The family of a Pella officer killed on duty 40 years ago continues to remember his legacy as part of National Peace Officer Memorial Day.

John E. Van Haaften was shot and killed in April of 1980 while conducting an undercover drug bust in Knoxville. His daughter Tricia Van Zee says her father loved the community and to serve and protect the public, as the many officers around the country do every day, as well as those who paid the ultimate sacrifice.

“My dad loved being a police officer,” she says. “It’s not anything you go into mildly, and so everyone in that role, it’s not their intent to be the bad guy, their intent is to protect us from the bad guy.”

Sharyl Hanthorn was married to John when he was killed, and she honors him annually with a scholarship given to graduating high school seniors, and hopes his legacy lives on through those students.

In addition to Van Haaften, Marion County Deputy Harold Gates was shot and killed while assisting the Pella Police Department in responding to a domestic disturbance call of a man making threats in a neighborhood on October 25, 1967.