Deputy Sheriff Ronald Alan Kanze

I met Ron for the first time in 1989, I didn't know him as Ron the Deputy at first. To me he was SGT. Kanze the Army Recruiter. Ron and Tim Blair shared an Army Recruiting Office at Central Mall in Fort Smith, AR. I came to know both of these men as time passed, but initially as the men who were instrumental in my induction into the Army. It was several years later that I had learned that both of them had been Police Officers. I recall Ron escorting me to the MEPS Station in Little Rock for my Military Physical and Swearing in Ceremony, and on the trip back we stopped at a McDonalds, I mention that because it was the first time I had ever had a McRib (weird thing to recall). I have thought about that meal several times over the past 30+ years as well as the conversation at that McDonalds. Ron didn't BS me about the Challenges that I was about to embark on, matter of fact he described the Hell that I was about to experience when I arrive at Fort Sill, OK for Basic Training and he was not wrong. A couple years after Ron's EOW, I pinned on the badge. There were several Officers that were influential in my decision to become a Police Officer and of that list Ron is included.

Rest in Peace Sgt. Kanze, we have the watch from here.

Thell Riddle
Mulberry Police Department

June 9, 2024