MCALESTER, Okla. — Close to a thousand people turned out for a benefit dinner honoring fallen officer Joseph Barlow.
The patrolman was mortally wounded on Highway 75 in Glenpool Friday during a funeral procession for Captain Richard Parker, also of McAlester Police Department.
It’s also a personal loss for the local Elks Lodge, which hosted the fundraiser.
“Not just because he was a police officer here, but he was a lodge member of ours and a veteran, Chris Sutterfield said. "So that was some of what brought it together but the citizens here, just the information that we’re hearing back from people and how heartbroken they are.”
With less than a day’s notice, virtually everyone who knew - and hundreds of those who didn’t know Ofc. Barlow turned out for $15 steak dinners.
Every dollar of the proceeds goes to the Barlow family account at First National Bank in McAlester.
“In fact, it’s nothing about the eating. It’s about the money that can go and help the family, the young family,” Pittsburg County Sheriff Chaplain Rick Dominic said.
What isn’t easy to digest for many who came to eat at the event, is losing a fellow officer and a friend after other deaths within McAlester Police, according to Sgt. Chuck Sutterfield, whom Barlow worked under.
“He was an awesome guy," he said. "You couldn’t ask for a better recruit - somebody that was willing to do anything you ask of him, always wanting to step up and be a part of anything that had to do with law enforcement.”
The long wait just to get in the doors was worth it for hundreds from all over, including Carrie Petty, who knew Barlow almost all his life and considered him part of her own family.
“I taught him science, and he was best friends with our son,” Petty said.
“(He was) just a beacon of light. I mean, just the life of the party, just a great personality. Always smiling, always laughing.”
“Anybody that knew Joseph loved Joseph. Everybody does.”
McAlester Police said anyone can donate to the Barlow family fund at First National Bank in McAlester. For any questions on how to donate, contact McAlester Police Department at 918-423-1212.
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