http://www.officer.com/web/online/Top-News-Stories/Widow-of-Officer-Killed-Following-JFK-Assassination-Visits-Memorial-for-First-Time/1$41360
Visits Memorial for First Time
Marie Tippit, the widow of former Dallas Police Officer J.D. Tippit,
who was shot and killed by Lee Harvey Oswald on Nov. 22, 1963, touches
her husband's name on the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial
in Wa****ngton, D.C.,
TODD J. GILLMAN
The Dallas Morning News (Texas)
More than four decades have passed since Marie Tippit lost her husband
to John F. Kennedy's assassin on that fateful November day in Dallas,
and on Monday, she got to see J.D. Tippit's name on a national police
memorial, alongside those of thousands of other fallen officers.
The rain was falling steadily as the 79-year-old widow made her first
visit to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial. She rubbed
her thumb gently across the marble, pursing her lips. A tear spilled
down her cheek as her son patted her back.
For Mrs. Tippit, J.D. was more than a footnote to history, or a key
piece of evidence to the Warren Commission's investigation.
"He was a good police officer and he was a good husband and father,"
she said.
On Tuesday, Mrs. Tippit will sit on the dais at a candlelight vigil
expected to draw 20,000 to the memorial, a few blocks from the
Capitol.
"This means a lot to us," said Craig Floyd, chairman and CEO of the
fund that built the memorial in 1991, personally playing tour guide.
He showed Mrs. Tippit the marble panel with her husband's name. Just
to the right, the name "John Kennedy" -- a New York City police
officer killed in 1922, placed there to remind visitors of Officer
Tippit's place in history.
"He represents -- even though he was killed by the man who killed a
president, because of that he just kind of represents a lot of the
other officers that were killed in the line of duty, just out there
doing their jobs every day," Mrs. Tippit said.
She has long since remarried but often uses the name of her first
husband. Life goes on, she said. But just as the world hasn't
forgotten the Kennedy assassination, she thinks often of her first
husband. He was 39. That day, Nov. 22, 1963, he stopped home for lunch
-- not something he often did. She whipped up some tuna and fried
potatoes and he rushed back to work.
Officer Tippit spotted Lee Harvey Oswald wearing a zipped-up jacket.
It was 68 degrees, and the jacket looked out of place. He stopped his
patrol car and got out. Oswald pulled a handgun and shot at point-
blank range. It was 1:15 p.m., just 45 minutes after the president had
been shot.
Eyewitnesses called police. Oswald was cornered at the Texas Theater.
Mrs. Tippit comes from a law enforcement family. Her father was a
police captain in Greenville at the time, and two brothers were
officers there. The son who accompanied her to Wa****ngton this week,
Curtis Tippit, a home contractor who lives east of Dallas, has a son
who is considering a police career.
"His personality is one of a protector, a take the bull-by-the-horns
kind of person. It may have something to do with his grandfather,
too," said Mr. Tippit, who was just shy of his 5th birthday when his
father died.
"As a lot of the other widows will tell you, you have to do it one day
at a time. It's just not an easy thing," his mom said. "You have to
take it one day at a time, because you've got kids to raise. You've
got to keep his memory alive for them."
Dallas police officers pitched in to send the Tippits to Wa****ngton.
They arrived Saturday night and got a VIP tour of the White House on
Sunday. They were on hand to see Marine One deliver the Bushes after
their daughter's wedding in Crawford. Monday was set aside for the
memorial visit. On Tuesday, they'll visit the Capitol.
"He was doing his job," said Dallas police Sr. Cpl. Rick Janich, who
escorted the Tippits.
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