SURREY - Canada's largest RCMP detachment unveiled a new monument in Surrey Friday morning (Nov. 14) to honour local Mounties who have lost their lives while on duty.
The monument, at the entrance of the Surrey RCMP detachment building in Newton, contains the names of five constables.
Const. Archie Lepine, originally from Saskatchewan, was posted to the Pattullo Bridge detachment in July 1960. He died July 19, 1962, after his motorcycle collided with a delivery truck on what was then called King George Highway.
Const. Roger Pierlet hailed from Montreal. He was posted to the Cloverdale detachment. On March 29, 1974, while working what was supposed to be his last shift before he was to get married, he was shot dead after stopping a car in Cloverdale. The two killers were originally sentenced to death, but these were commuted to life sentences after capital punishment was abolished in Canada in 1976. An overpass in Cloverdale is named after Pierlet, in his honour.
Const. John Terry Draginda was born in the Northwest Territories. On Sept. 29, 1974, Draginda was responding to serious motorcycle crash at 152nd Street and 96th Avenue when his patrol car collided with another vehicle, and as a result he and two people in the other car lost their lives. He is buried in Edmonton.
Const. John Baldwinson, born in Gimli, Manitoba, was an outstanding athlete. He died on Oct. 28, 1975, when his patrol car collided with a horse that had wandered onto the roadway late that night.
Most recently, Const. Adrian Oliver was killed on Nov. 13, 2012, when his patrol car collided with a truck at the intersection of 64th Avenue and 148th Street.
tzytaruk@thenownewspaper.com