Dana Hummer, Former Topeka Police Chief, 84
DGH
Former police chief cared for city
Friends say Dana L. Hummer cared deeply for Topeka
By Tim Hrenchir
The Capital-Journal
Topeka Police Department police chief Ed Klumpp, kneeling center, handed
a folded American flag to Louise Hummer, the widow of Dana Hummer, the
Topeka police chief from 1963-1973, during interment services at Topeka
Cemetery Tuesday afternoon. Dana Hummer, 84, died Friday, April 26,
2002, at his home in Topeka, Kansas.
Dana Hummer faced sickness and death with the same strength of character
he showed throughout his life, friends said Tuesday at funeral services
for the former Topeka police chief.
The Rev. Paul Barnes told of how he spoke with Hummer about 11 hours
before Hummer died last week.
Barnes recalled, "He grabbed my hand and said: 'Pastor, don't worry
about me. I'm ready to die."
Barnes, pastor of Brookwood Covenant Church, officiated at services in
First Baptist Church for Hummer, 84, who died Friday morning at his
home. Hummer had been diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis and had been
carrying a respirator for the past year.
Numerous current and retired law enforcement officers were among those
attending the funeral for Hummer, who was Topeka's police chief from
1963 to 1973. Survivors include his wife of 59 years, Louise Hummer.
Retired Topeka Police Chief Dean Forster, a speaker at Tuesday's
service, said Dana Hummer had hired him as a police officer in the early
1970s. Forster said he grew close to Hummer, whose friendship and advice
proved valuable to Forster when he served from 1996 to 2001 as the
city's police chief.
Forster remembered Hummer as a sometimes-controversial chief who loved
law enforcement, knew the meaning of respect and left no doubt about who
was in charge.
Another friend, Tom Kennedy, described Hummer as a strong, determined
person who did much to make Topeka a better place.
Kennedy, who retired as a brigadier general in 1977 from the Kansas Army
National Guard, served from 1977 to 1984 as director of Kansas Alcoholic
Beverage Control.
An early riser, Kennedy said that any time his telephone rang between
5:45 and 6 a.m., "we knew it was Dana Hummer."
Kennedy said Hummer invariably had just read his morning newspaper and
wanted to share ideas about politics, taxes or happenings in Topeka.
"Dana cared a great deal about Topeka," Kennedy said.
He said Hummer had been an active supporter of various causes that
included Topeka Cemetery, the American Lung Association, Washburn
University and Brookwood Covenant Church.
Topeka Police Department patrolman Jerry Monasmith stood at attention
during a three-helicopter flyover the Topeka Cemetery Tuesday afternoon
for the interment services for Dana Hummer. Hummer, the city's police
chief from 1963-1973, started the department's helicopter program during
his tenure.
Kennedy noted that Dana and Louise Hummer had arranged for a fountain to
be built at Topeka Cemetery honoring their only child. Nancy Louise
Hummer was 19 years old and a student at Washburn University when she
died of an illness in August 1966. Kennedy said Dana and Louise Hummer
also arranged for a tall cross honoring victims of Topeka's June 1966
tornado to be moved from Burnett's Mound to Topeka Cemetery.
After Tuesday's funeral service, mourners drove to that cross in Topeka
Cemetery for a service conducted by the police department's honor guard.
The service featured bagpipes, a 21-gun salute, the playing of "Taps"
and a flyover by police helicopters. An American flag that covered
Hummer's coffin was removed and presented to his widow.
Tim Hrenchir can be reached at (785) 295-1184 or thre...@cjonline.com.
--
Dana L. Hummer
o He was born June 2, 1917, in the Oakland area of Topeka. His father
was killed in a construction accident in 1928 in Topeka.
o Hummer served in the Army Air Corps in Naples, Italy and North Africa
during World War II.
o In March 1943, he married his wife, the former Louise M. Lungstrum.
o He was Topeka police chief from 1963 until he retired in 1973.
o He was Topeka police chief from 1963 until he retired in 1973. As
police chief, he initiated the police department's helicopter program,
ride-a-long program, Police Athletic League, chaplain program and bomb
disposal unit. Hummer was police chief when the city was hit by the 1966
tornado. He often dealt with controversy during the turbulent years of
the 1960s and early 1970s.
o Hummer continued to be politically active during his later years, and
had supported the successful Senate campaign of Republican Sam
Brownback.
The Avocado Avenger
>Topeka Police Department police chief Ed Klumpp, kneeling center, handed
>a folded American flag to Louise Hummer, the widow of Dana Hummer, the
>Topeka police chief from 1963-1973, during interment services at Topeka
>Cemetery Tuesday afternoon. Dana Hummer, 84, died Friday, April 26,
>2002, at his home in Topeka, Kansas.
He hadn't been police chief in Topeka for over 10 years by the time I
moved to Kansas, but he was always mentioned when anyone spoke of the
Topeka police force. I didn't know him but people truly liked and
respected the man.
Stacia * The Avocado Avenger * Life is a tale told by an idiot;
http://www.flinthills.com/~stacia * Full of sound and fury,
There is no guacamole anywhere. * Signifying nothing.