THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, October 8, 1996 TAG: 9610080288
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JUNE ARNEY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: 92 lines
A portrait of Police Chief Ian M. Shipley Jr., draped with black velvet, met visitors to police headquarters on Monday as the city's officers struggled with the loss of their leader.
Outside, the department's flag flew at half-staff. A monument bearing the names of fallen officers wore a rain-soaked shroud of black cloth.
Inside, the mood was subdued. The usual busy hallways seemed quieter. Officers wore black bands across their badges to honor their fallen leader, and secretaries wore black ribbons.
They mourned Shipley, a 35-year veteran policeman who started as a patrolman and rose through the ranks over three decades to become chief in 1990.
Shipley, 55, died at 9:25 p.m. Sunday after he apparently suffered a heart attack while jogging within a mile of his home.
On Monday, it took three people to answer the phone calls from citizens and others.
``We're a little numb right now,'' said Deputy Chief Richard Justice, who is serving as acting chief.
Shipley collapsed Sunday night near Smith Street and Providence Road. It was a familiar route to the avid runner, who logged between three and five miles most days.
``Everybody is in shock,'' said Detective Richard Black, a spokesman for Chesapeake police. ``It's just really hard to grasp what's happened.''
Shipley was known for his professionalism and his emphasis on physical fitness. He brought work-out equipment to some of the police precincts, for instance, Black said.
Shipley took up jogging about 1976, competing in police-oriented races in Virginia, according to a fellow officer.
Overall, Shipley's style was low-key, Black said. He didn't like sensationalism.
``He stood behind his people,'' Black said. ``When he needed to be out front, he was there. . . He was fair, honest, an outstanding individual.''
Black said it is unclear when a new chief will be named for the department of 320 sworn officers. ``I think whoever takes on that job realizes he has some big shoes to fill,'' he said.
Capt. Don Zeagler, who works in the city's detective bureau, said there was great significance to Shipley's final trip to Chesapeake General Hospital Sunday night. Shipley had helped raise money to make the hospital possible.
Shipley, then a detective, did the background check on Zeagler when he was joining the Chesapeake force.
``He had a sense that he imparted to everyone who came in contact with him, that a job worth doing is worth doing right,'' Zeagler said.
Shipley put police officers in the schools in the 1970s as a preventive measure before it became popular.
The news of Shipley's death hit especially hard for Frank Driscoll, former Chesapeake Republican city chairman. Hours earlier, he had shared lunch at Greenbrier Country Club with Shipley and his wife, Dixie.
It had been an upbeat lunch with talk of golf and retirement and the Shipleys' weekend travels to the Eastern Shore and Lynchburg, Driscoll said. He and ``Ship'' made a golf date for Wednesday.
``He was going to come home and couch it and watch football,'' Driscoll said. Shipley hadn't specifically mentioned running, but he didn't have to because everyone knew he did it - religiously, Driscoll said.
By 10 p.m., Driscoll received the news that his friend of 15 years was dead.
``We're going to miss him,'' Driscoll said. ``He was honest and charitable and just. He was one of a rare breed who was able to strive, live and practice those moral values.''
Shipley and his wife have two sons, Jim, a lieutenant with the Sheriff's Department, and John, a sergeant with the Sheriff's Department.
At the time of his death, Shipley was serving as grand senior warden at the Grand Lodge of Virginia in Richmond. ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]
Police Chief Ian M. Shipley Jr., 55, died Sunday night after he
apparently suffered a heart attack while jogging.
MOTOYA NAKAMURA
The Virginian-Pilot
``Everybody is in shock. It's just really hard to grasp what's
happened.''
- Detective Richard Black
FUNERAL PLANS, REMEMBRANCES
A service for family and friends will be held from 6 to 10 p.m.
Thursday at Oman Funeral Home, 653 Cedar Road, Chesapeake. A
graveside service will be held at 2 p.m. Friday at Chesapeake
Memorial Gardens, 524 Cedar Road. A reception will follow from 3:30
to 6 p.m. at the Shrine Activities Building, 645 Woodlake Drive.
In lieu of flowers, the chief's family asks that donations be
made to the American Heart Association, 360 Southport Circle, Suite
104, Virginia Beach, Va. 23452, or the Masonic Home, 4101 Nine Mile
Road, Richmond, Va. 23223. by CNB