Today, I said goodbye to an old friend. Being active in the WV Baptist Camp at Cowen, WV I knew who Brian Kenneth Duffield was because we both attended camps there. While that group encompasses some decent numbers, it's not so big that you don't know who most of the people are. We had several mutual friends, but our paths didn't cross until I hired on to the Baptist Camp as maintenance for the summer of 1986. Like me, Brian was in college and like me, he was aspiring to be a police officer.
Brian was sort of the supervisor that summer since he had worked there previously and knew the basics of what needed done. We all worked for the great Gene Angus who was the camp caretaker. Gene kept the camp running and lived there year-round with his family. Gene was a Marine Corps veteran of World War Two and was legendary. But, he'd been diagnosed with cancer and was in ill health. He couldn't get around much so he told Brian what needed to be done, Brian would tell us, and we would get it done. Without cable TV and being 30 miles from movie theaters, there wasn't a lot to do, we all became pretty good friends while we were there.
After that summer Brian would see each other on occasion. When I was home from college, we might hook up for a movie. My best friend Steve Moore and I made sure he came to one of the annual beach trips with the WV Baptist Campus Ministry. I knew he had tested for the WV State Police and I couldn't wait to tell him I put in an application with St. Albans Police Department. Brian had worked midnights at a gas station in St. Albans while in college, and he was enthusiastic about me possibly working there. I remember him saying how busy St. Albans could be. Like any night shift job, you tend to get to know the local police officers. He knew several, in particular, the night shift commander who would become the Chief of Police who would hire me.
It took Brian a while to get hired by the State Police. That wasn't unusual back in those days because they would typically start with 3000 applicants. It just took a while to work through those numbers. Being a smaller agency, it wasn't near as long for me at St. Albans. They were able to work through about 180 test takers to the final hiring list in about 4 months. By that time Brian had received his Academy start date of I believe December 1988. I eventually received my Academy start date of late January 1989. We were going to be in the Academy together which was pretty cool.
I was real happy when Brian found out he was going to be assigned to Logan County. It was an active county with plenty of work to do. The worst thing was this was the point when we lost touch. It wasn't intentional on either of us. Being young police officers, we worked as much as we could. Learning police work tends to overwhelm you almost to the point it takes up most of your life. Before I knew it, it had been years since I had talked to Brian. Then it had been over a decade.
That was when I heard Brian had taken a medical retirement. He had stomach issues they couldn't diagnose which we now know as celiac disease. Brian also had developed Parkinson's like symptoms of tremors and joints locking up. Local specialists didn't know what was causing them and he became worse. National specialists couldn't diagnose him either as a visit to the great Cleveland Clinic could provide no answers. All the while Brian became worse, and he had to medically retire.
I was shocked when I heard last week that Brian had passed away. Our mutual friend Shawn Johnson posted it on Facebook. I instantly messaged Shawn who caught me up on the last two decades of Brian's life. I was full of sadness. Because of his death and also because I missed all of those years. Brian had family and friends and a great wife who loved him, so he wasn't short of people to lean on. I don't know what help I could have been, maybe none at all. But I missed my old friend. Brian's pain and suffering are over. I'll pray for his wife and family.
I went to the funeral home today with my wife. We saw some old friends. We saw a bunch of WV State Troopers I know both working and retired. It reminds me of the bond that all of us who wears or wore a badge shares. Brian was well taken care of during his illness, and for that I am thankful. I still wish I had reached out over the years. Perhaps there is someone out there in your life who you've lost touch with over the years. Don't wait, reach out!
