SOUTH PORTLAND — If there’s one thing police officers respect, it’s hard work. If
there’s another, it’s community service. And, if there’s a third thing that
gets universal approbation among those in the law enforcement community, it has
to be Peter MacVane, because he had the other two things in spades.
On Wednesday morning, Dec. 5, MacVane, a 34-year veteran of the South
Portland Police Department, lost his five-year battle with colon cancer. On
Sunday, hundreds of MacVane’s fellow officers passed under a giant American
flag strung over Stroudwater Road from two fire department ladder trucks and
into the Westbrook Performing Arts Center to pay their final respects in a
service led by the police department chaplain, the Rev. David Brennnan.
“He was just one of those guys who gave and gave,” said MacVane’s
friend and colleague of more than 23 years, Lt. Frank Clark.
“I can’t think of anyone who would have anything bad to say about the
man,” said Clark. “He just gave so much of his personal time over the years, to
so may worthy causes. Everything he did, he did to benefit someone else, and
not for self-serving purposes. He really enjoyed giving and interacting with
the kids.”
MacVane, 61 when he died, was perhaps best known to legions of South
Portland schoolchildren as “Officer Friendly,” a role he filled for many years
to build a better relationship between kids and cops.
A longtime supporter of Special Olympics, MacVane
co-founded the annual New Year’s Day Lobster Dip in Old Orchard Beach, an event
he initially organized with members of the Portland Rugby Club on Portland’s
East End.
He would do seemingly
anything to raise money for a cause, whether it was to camp out on the roof of
Big Moose Harley Davidson in Portland as the “Cop on Top," or to lock
himself overnight in a doughnut shop. He pumped gas at Fuel the Dream events or
rode in the Trek Across Maine for 14 years, the last on four wheels after he
could no longer ride a bike. In everything he did, his friends and co-workers
say, MacVane could be counted on to share an easy smile, or brandish his
familiar “thumbs-up” sign.
And, when not helping
others, MacVane paid them homage, always ready as a founding member of the
South Portland Police Department motorcycle division to escort worthy groups,
including those associated with the tragedy of Sept. 11, 2001.
His efforts on behalf
of others did not stop, even in his final days. Just weeks before his death,
MacVane could be found waiting tables at Red Robin in Scarborough in a
“Tip-a-Cop” fundraiser for Special Olympics that he personally organized.
“He was our leader in
events like that,” said Police Chief Ed Googins. “No one person can ever pick
up all the things he did in the community. It will take a number of officers
just to keep pace.”
“His entire life,
literally, was devoted to serving others,” said Lisa Bird, director of public
relations for Special Olympics Maine. “He was the kind of guy who would do the
things you literally could not get other people to do.”
For all he did though,
MacVane was not driven to police work. A Portland native, he met his wife of 34
years, Kathy, while studying business administration at the University of
Southern Maine, where they each gave swimming lessons.
“We both liked the
same kinds of outdoorsy things and just fell in love,” she said, adding that
MacVane loved being active, loved his family – daughter Kelly and son Ian
– and loved combining both in the family's many adventure trips.
Soon after school,
MacVane took his first job as a night shift beat cop, “because he was just
basically looking for a job,” said Kathy MacVane.
“I don’t think he had
a specific reason for joining the police department, but once he did he got
involved and really liked the camaraderie of it,” she said. “He really enjoyed
the people he got to work with and all the things he got to do later on as a
detective and a court officer. He liked that he got to meet a variety of
different people.”
“He just enjoyed being
able to give back to the community,” said Kathy MacVane. “It was something in
him that was just really sincere.”
“He clearly was the
epitome of community policing,” said Googins. “What he offered of himself was
just unbelievable. He has truly been a mentor of younger offices for what it
means to be an officer – it’s not about just doing your shift and going
home.”
Despite his illness,
MacVane continued to give, in and out of uniform. A week before his death, the
city honored him with a teamwork award at its annual recognition breakfast.
“He worked right up
until two to three weeks before he died,” said his wife, adding, “I was so
happy that they let him to continue – that they wanted him to. They didn’t
treat him any differently and that’s what he wanted. He always felt he could
beat it, but I think that being able to still be involved in everyday
activities, I think he did live longer because of that.”
“I don’t know where a healthy person would’ve got that kind of energy,”
said Clark. “We intend as a department to carry on as Peter has done, but I
don’t thin any one of us could do it. It’ll take several of us.”
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