[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 147 (Tuesday, November 29, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: November 29, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
            TRIBUTE TO HINSDALE COUNTY SHERIFF ROGER COURSEY

                                 ______


                           HON. SCOTT McINNIS

                              of colorado

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, November 29, 1994

  Mr. McINNIS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize a dedicated law 
enforcement official, Hinsdale County Sheriff Roger Coursey, who was 
shot and struck down Nov. 18 in the line of duty. While the nationwide 
hunt continues to find the couple who is allegedly responsible for his 
death, the community in Hinsdale County mourn the passing of a favorite 
son.
  Sheriff Coursey, who was 44 years old, stopped the couple's truck 
after reports of several robberies, including a bank in neighboring 
Mineral County. The driver of the truck shot and killed Sheriff Coursey 
as he approached the vehicle.
  The killing virtually shut down the town of 250, while the search for 
the two suspects was conducted. Residents were warned to lock their 
doors, and they curled up in their beds with hunting rifles.
  Hundreds of mourners gathered with Roger's widow, Karen, and his 
grandson, Trevor Stephens last week, to pay their last respects to 
honor the slain sheriff.
  Roger Coursey was appointed sheriff last August, and was elected to 
his first term less than 2 weeks before he was killed. The week before 
he was shot, he jumped into the icy water of Lake San Cristobal near 
Lake City and saved the life of Tommy Thompson, a National Park Service 
employee.
  Roger was buried in the same cemetery where another Hinsdale County 
Sheriff was put to rest. Like Roger, Sheriff Edward Campbell was shot 
to death by two robbers, and like Roger, Campbell was getting ready to 
arrest two criminals, and was ambushed and killed in front of his 
undersheriff. Only in that case, which happened more than 100 years 
ago, the two murderers were captured that night and a lynch mob 
administered some Western justice with rope and a tree.
  Freedom, peace, and justice in a society all come at high cost, but 
they are the foundation for a great society. At the core of such a 
society are brave people who stand up to be counted, who spend their 
energy making a secure future for others. It is people like Roger who 
fit that category. Roger's love of life, of people, of children, and 
his wife, was what drove him to his dedication as a sheriff.
  Roger is a hero, and one did not need to know him to love and admire 
him.
  I will end in saying that there is no greater price than that paid by 
Roger and his family, but that price allowed freedom and justice to 
stand tall in our society. Soon the assailants will be apprehended, and 
in the end, Roger will prevail.

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