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My Dad, the Sheriff

September 8, 2021 by Jim Potter 6 Comments

http://jimpotterauthor.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Reno-County-My-Dad-the-Sheriff.mp3

· My Dad, the Sheriff

Newlyweds Juanita & Guy Ankerholz posed for this 1928 photograph taken at D&M Studio, 26 1/2 North Main. Author’s collection.

It’s Sunday afternoon, January 10, 1943, at the home of Juanita Mae Chambers Ankerholz and Guy Leo Ankerholz, 829 East 6th Avenue, Hutchinson, Kansas. Their daughter, Dona “DeNean,” 10, is writing a school report that’s due the next day.

*

“Mom,” said DeNean, “my teacher said we should write on something, but not everything.”

“She’s correct, you want people to learn about a topic. You’re writing about your father being Reno County sheriff for the last four years. What will your class learn about him from your report?”

“One of the boys, who saw Dad walking, asked me if he had been shot in the leg by a bootlegger or a bank robber.

Diploma in hand, Guy graduates eighth grade from Liberty School, District 130. Author’s collection.

“In my story, I’m explaining that Dad has never been shot, that his hip fused together in a sitting position after he got blood poisoning when he was just eight years old. I’m also telling them that even though my dad can’t fight in the war, he helps protect people in Reno County from criminals.”

“Very good,” said Juanita. “He’s never had to shoot anyone, either. You know Dad; he thinks he can talk himself out of any trouble.”

“When I interviewed him, he said one reason he got elected was his smile,” said DeNean. “Dad said that when he was young, he learned that if you wanted to be popular, you had to smile. As sheriff, he’d rather flash his smile than a gun. I’m also writing that most of the time as sheriff he doesn’t carry his gun or handcuffs, but he does keep them in the car, just in case.

“Dad has said that he thinks it would be braggadocio to show his gun in public,” continued DeNean. “He said that’s like bragging.”

“Yes,” agreed Juanita. “Your father sees displaying a gun as boasting, and that it’s a weakness of character. Your father’s character has made him an outstanding peace officer. Because of his disability, I think he also shows more compassion than others.

“He cares about people, DeNean, even criminals. I’ve heard him say that even though a man’s a criminal, he’s still a man. He’s a human being.”

“Dad said that some of his best friends are criminals and that sometimes it’s from them he gets good information to solve crimes and make arrests.

“Mom, Dad also told me that when he grew up on the farm northeast of Sylvia, he didn’t know any colored people. He said that after Sheriff Brown hired him, his boss gave him a lesson about treating everyone fairly.

Juanita Chambers and Guy Ankerholz standing next to his 1927 Whippet convertible. Authors collection.

“One night, Dad went to visit the sheriff at the old jail on East B. After Dad got out of his car, a colored man, who was loud and drunk, came up to Dad and put his arm around him. To get away from the man, Dad said he wasn’t too polite.

“When Dad got up the steps, Sheriff Fay Brown gave his new office clerk a lecture. He said, ‘If you’re going to work in public office, you’re going to have to learn that coloreds are just the same as you are.’

“Dad said: ‘From then on, I treated people of all colors the same. That’s one of the things I hadn’t learned on the farm.’”

“Did Dad remind you about when he rammed his sheriff’s car into a getaway car that had two heavily armed criminals in it after a hold up?” asked Juanita. “That was just a couple of years ago on Thanksgiving. Do you remember it?”

“I remember he had to leave our turkey dinner,” said DeNean, “but now that I’m writing about it, I need more details. Dad said that a lot of lawmen were chasing the vehicle and shooting at it. It had a dozen bullet holes in it after it crashed. Somehow, no one was hurt.”

“That’s right,” agreed Juanita. “Your Dad sideswiped the other car and forced it off the road, causing it to roll on its side. The newspaper called it courageous and daring, but when I heard about it, I nearly fainted thinking about how your father could have been injured or killed in the wreck.”

This car was used by Ankerholz when he campaigned successfully for sheriff in 1936 and 1938.

“Dad asked me to mention that in his two terms in office, a total of four years, not a single prisoner has escaped from the county jail. Dad said that before the present courthouse was built, there were a lot of escapes in the old, worn-out jail.”

“Yes, there were still escapes when your dad worked for Sheriff Brown in the courthouse. Is there anything else you want in your story?”

“I don’t think so. Dad told me about the first time he met you and how, for him, it was love at first sight. I don’t think I need to include that in this paper. I’m writing on something, not everything.”

“You’re right, honey; that’s personal, but I’m glad Daddy shared that with you. When I met him in 1927, he had recently been hired by Sheriff Brown to be his office clerk. I was only 16 when we met, and 17 when we married.

Donald, 6, entered the room, yawning and rubbing his sleepy eyes as he approached Juanita. “Mom, I’m hungry, can I have some more of your cherry pie?”

*

Until next time, happy writing and reading.

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Filed Under: Blog posts Tagged With: Dona DeNean Ankerholz, Donald Ankerholz, Guy Ankerholz, Hutchinson Kansas, Hutchinson News, Jim Potter, Juanita Ankerholz, Juanita Mae Chambers Ankerholz, Kansas Authors Club, Reno County Jail, Reno County Sheriff, Sheriff Fay Brown, Sheriff Guy Ankerholz

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Alex says

    September 8, 2021 at 9:54 am

    DeNean is a great interviewer!

    Reply
    • Jim Potter says

      September 8, 2021 at 3:18 pm

      Close to home.

      Reply
  2. Nancy Julien Kopp says

    September 8, 2021 at 10:10 am

    Nice post, Jim.

    Reply
    • Jim Potter says

      September 8, 2021 at 3:18 pm

      Thanks, Nancy.

      Reply
  3. Marilyn Bolton says

    September 10, 2021 at 4:14 pm

    The sheriff was a learner and an observer! He was open to growth & change.

    Reply
    • Jim Potter says

      September 10, 2021 at 5:39 pm

      He waited for his turn to be sheriff while learning the inner workings of the job and making contacts.

      Reply

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What People Are Saying

Denise Low, author of Jackalope (Red Mountain Press)

Jim Potter is a cop, retired, but he brings deep understanding of this job to his novel Taking Back the Bullet: Trajectories of Self-Discovery. This layered novel has literary dimensions as characters explore crisis situations. Congratulations to this fine writer for his debut novel.

Rebecca from Proud Police Wife

Taking Back the Bullet is an emotional, yet captivating novel. Jim Potter does a superb job of intertwining each character and putting their individual identities on display. All law enforcement storylines are a true reflection of Potter’s years as a police officer because they are realistic and relatable. This is a book I highly recommend.

Dennis Perrin, educator

Masterful storytelling, exquisite character development, so real as to HURT and HOPE, a real page turner. Begs for stage, screenwriters, and visual episodic development a.k.a. TV series . . . Thanks Jim Potter for telling it like it is AND providing us visions of how it could be. Well done!

Rebecca Schillaci

As a former law enforcement officer, I found the story very relatable as it details the life of a law enforcement officer and the struggles some face throughout their careers. . . Taking Back the Bullet is a journey of understanding, respect, and forgiveness . . .

Sheryl Remar

I enjoyed the different stories of this book because Tom, James, and Suanna, the three main characters, represent in their own way the different struggles with themselves and society’s idea of what is normal.

John & Cindy Morrill, 20 years Air Force retired, 17 years law enforcement

I enjoyed your book. When I am looking for a new read, I always read the first page, last page and choose a random page somewhere in the middle before I decide to buy it. You had me on all three pages. I also like reading a book where you can relate to the characters and the settings in which they live and work. It makes a story more realistic if you can say, I am familiar with the area; I know where that town is or I have traveled that street. It was easy to relate to the characters. In one way or another, I have met them all somewhere in my journeys.

Judy Hawk

. . . I was impressed with the Native American information as well as the depth of character development . . . .

Wynona Winn, PhD, retired school superintendent

Three main characters walk different paths but with the same destination – each coping with his or her self-discovery, self-identity, and self-realization. Much like their earlier counterparts – Huck Finn and Holden Caulfield – their journeys are often joyous, often tedious and often tragic.

Diana Dester

Good story line, building the characters along the way. Great job!

Deb Theis, LSCSW, clinical therapist/hypnotherapist

Jim Potter has done it again! After his book, Cop in the Classroom: Lessons I’ve Learned, Tales I’ve Told, Jim has written another great work. In Taking Back the Bullet: Trajectories of Self-Discovery, Jim Potter takes us on an insightful journey into the lives and relationships of numerous characters. Jim is such a talented storyteller that the reader quickly becomes immersed and has a ‘bonding experience’ with each of the characters, feeling their joy, fear, passion and pain. Jim’s novel speaks to the empowerment of persistence with the characters as they work through their trials. As a therapist, I appreciated the heartfelt struggles from each of the characters and their diversity. I also found value in the novel’s understanding of society’s misunderstanding of both mental health and other conditions in which people struggle. The novel contains rich exposure to various realities that many of us do not know about . . . but should. When I finished this captivating novel, I was wanting to read the sequel! It was an honor and a wonderful, mesmerizing experience reading this book. Congratulations, Jim!

Jane Holzrichter

I finished it last night around midnight. What a great piece of work. It kept me intrigued all the way to the end.

Sean McArdle, Winchester, England

Retired police officer Potter’s novel centres on very disparate characters and through the tried and tested means of gradually introducing each one, builds a sense of anticipation about what is going to happen to them. This often used methodology is not easy to do well but is superbly handled by Potter who knows how to give enough detail to bring the characters to life, yet not too much so as to slow down the pace of the developing story. A climactic event affects the main characters and it is at this point Potter’s deep knowledge of people and police procedures really hits home; page by page we read how a seemingly simple, though terrible occurrence, can have huge consequences. To Potter’s credit the story does not have a completely conclusive or simplistic ending. Instead it leaves the reader thinking about how the events of a single minute can affect lives forever. I would whole heartedly recommend this book not as a crime novel or even as a novel about crime but as a beautiful and positive affirmation about what it is to be human and how ultimately it is relationships which matter more than events.

Morgan Penner

Taking Back the Bullet is a novel that provides the reader with a window into the world of law enforcement. As the novel unfolds, the reader is able to see how split-second decisions alter the lives of the main characters in the story. Taking Back the Bullet also explores how humanity is impacted by mental illness. One of my favorite quotes from Taking Back the Bullet is “We’re all just a critical moment from being disabled or mentally ill, and we don’t want to think about it.” The novel also provides the reader an opportunity to gain a better understanding of how mental illness impacts the individuals, their family, friends, and society. Taking Back the Bullet is a story of forgiveness and overcoming life’s struggles and tragedies.

Steve Becker

I’m impressed. It was an excellent read. . . . I hope you continue with more projects in the future.

Larry Kruckman, anthropologist

Jim Potter displays ethnographic skills in Taking Back the Bullet: Trajectories of Self-Discovery, creating vivid scenes and fascinating characters. The Greeks had a word for subcultures and people’s behavior: ‘ethos,’ or ‘ways of being.’ In colorful, sometimes marvelous detail, this novel captures various people and settings . . . the ethos of rural Kansas: a jail, art fair, powwow, rehab center, courtroom, albinos, and even someone in the throes of postpartum depression. So detailed are the descriptions that they must be drawn from the author’s personal experience. Besides the artfully created characters such as the struggling jailer and husband Tom Jennings, local artist Jesse Thomas, and Native American Joe Morningcloud, there is a tight story line that grabs your attention and won’t let go. Human tensions, love, conflict, joys and sorrows are all there. Magically, all the many pieces come together in a final crescendo, giving hope that even when we find ourselves in big trouble we can survive. This is a novel I highly recommend!

Larry Kruckman
Anthropologist
Karleen Wilson-Moon

Terrific story relevant to today’s social issues . . . well written . . . likable characters . . . insightful perspective from an insider in law enforcement.

Karleen Wilson-Moon

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