By LEONARD GRAY / L’Observateur / March 29, 1999

LAPLACE – Three of St. John the Baptist Parish’s finest were honored thisweek in conjunction with the tour of the memorial quilt honoring fallen law enforcement officers.

Deputy Harry Troxlair, Lt. Sherman Walker and Cpl. Barton Granier, all St.John Parish officers who died in the line of duty, were memorialized at the quilt display held in the Arcuri Center at 1020 Cambridge Drive, LaPlace.

The quilt itself is covered with 1,263 patches representing law enforcement agencies across the United States and in several foreign countries.

The death of Hot Springs, Ark., officer Chris Anderson on Feb. 12, 1996inspired creation of the quilt. Public viewings were held Thursday andFriday, with a special private viewing for surviving family members of Troxlair, Walker and Granier.

Deputy Harry Troxlair, 46, died Aug. 1, 1969, when his patrol car was hitby an Illinois Central Gulf Railroad passenger train at the Frenier Road crossing. Troxlair, who served 16 and 1/2 years, was on patrol duty in thearea and was returning to LaPlace at the time of the accident.

Louisiana State Trooper Allen J. Aubert said at the time that Troxlair wastrying to get past a freight train stalled on the double set of tracks. Oncehe got past the freight, he moved into the path of the passenger train on the other tracks and was struck and killed.

A resident of Garyville, Troxlair was the husband of Eva Marie Michel Troxlair and father of three children.

Lt. Sherman Ray Walker, 33, died Nov. 6, 1984, when he was shot and killedoutside his home on Little Emily Street in Garyville. Walker, who servedeight years with the department, headed the detective division.

According to then-Sheriff Lloyd B. Johnson, Walker was ambushed andshot in the back as he stood near his unmarked police car. His murder waslater solved.

Walker was the husband of Emelda Bolden Walker and father of four children. Little Emily Street was later named for Walker, as was the newparish jail.

Cpl. Barton Granier, 38, died Jan. 27, 1996, when he was in pursuit of anarmed robbery suspect in a LaPlace neighborhood.

A native of Norco and resident of LaPlace, Granier, who served nearly five years with the department, was one of several officers in pursuit of a suspect believed to have robbed several convenience stories in LaPlace and Norco. The suspect managed to acquire a gun from a deputy and startedfiring, wounding Granier fatally. A second deputy, Cpl. Craig Gommel, waswounded in the incident. The suspect himself was shot and killed byofficers at the scene.

Granier was the husband of Leslie Vicknair Granier and father of two children. The street leading to the new jail was renamed for Granier.

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