[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 49 (Tuesday, April 28, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H2382]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     TRIBUTE TO DENNIS YARBOROUGH, KIRTLAND, OHIO'S CHIEF OF POLICE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Ohio (Mr. LaTourette) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. LaTOURETTE. Mr. Speaker, before I had the pleasure of serving as 
a Member of Congress, I was a prosecuting attorney in Ohio. And while I 
prosecuted thousands of cases and saw many defendants in court, there 
was one in 1990 that was notorious; and the facts of the case do not 
matter; and the defendants, who are all in prison, really do not 
matter. But what does matter is that that case, because of its 
notoriety, gave me the things that those of us in public life need to 
be successful: name recognition, approval ratings. But, more than that, 
it gave me a friend for life, Chief Dennis Yarborough of the Kirtland 
Police Department.
  Chief Yarborough served in the special forces posted at the White 
House. He was a highway patrolman in Pennsylvania, and he served as a 
deputy sheriff before coming home to his beloved Kirtland, where he 
served as chief of police for 19 years.
  Kirtland, Ohio, is a beautiful town. It is a city of faith, it is a 
city of trees, many churches. It is the home, and those of the Mormon 
faith will know Joseph Smith stopped in his travels in Kirtland, Ohio, 
and built the Kirtland Temple. It is a city of good people, and it is a 
place that Dennis very much loved.
  The last case in this series of cases, because of the pretrial 
publicity, was transferred hundreds of miles from our home; and Dennis 
and I lived for weeks at a time in 1990 out of our suitcases. And 
although it prepared me for this life, I have to say that I do not 
enjoy living out of a suitcase any more today than I did then.
  But we did have the chance, when we had dinner at the end of the day 
or when we had breakfast before going to the courthouse in the morning, 
to talk; and, just like here, it is good to not talk always about 
legislation and things political. It was good not to talk about the 
case all the time.
  Dennis' conversation always focused on three things. It focused on 
the community, Kirtland, where he grew up, a city that he loved, a 
place that he very much wanted to serve and protect; and it was obvious 
today at his funeral, Mr. Speaker, that the City of Kirtland loved him. 
As we left the driveway of the church, men, women and children lined 
the street and waved goodbye to their beloved chief. Store merchants 
put signs on their marquees thanking him for his 19 years of service 
and saying goodbye.
  He talked about his children, Jim and Marcy, and how proud that he 
was to have been able to participate in the raising of such fine, fine 
Americans and how he was glad that if he had done nothing else on Earth 
he was able to provide two young people with a good start in life so 
that they could be proud Americans as well.
  And, lastly, he talked about his wife Gail, his wife Gail whom he had 
been with since they were 12 years old. As a matter of fact, in our 
hotel in Toledo the chief had never been away from his wife for an 
extended period of time, and he could not sleep. So he would get up in 
the middle of the night, and he would walk the halls of the hotel, and 
that is how he passed his time.
  Today, not only Kirtland, Ohio, but the United States and certainly 
the area that I represent lost a great man. On Thursday last, while 
jogging, another one of his passions, he collapsed and died of a heart 
attack.
  Tonight, Mr. Speaker, Dennis Yarborough, Chief Dennis Yarborough of 
the Kirtland Police Department, I believe is in God's arms. And I also 
pray this evening that the good Lord watches over his family, Gail and 
James and Marcy; and I know that this country, my district, Kirtland, 
Ohio, is better for the fact that Dennis Yarborough came their way.

                          ____________________