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Gordon R. Joinville
(1933 - 1968)
On October 5, 1968, the City of San Mateo, California, held a dedication ceremony at the opening of their new municipal swim pool on Kehoe Avenue. The new swim center, "Joinville Pool," was dedicated in the memory of slain San Mateo Police officer, Gordon R. Joinville. Present at the ribbon-cutting ceremony were members of the San Mateo City Council, the Mayor, and members of the San Mateo Park and Recreation Commission. The commemorative plaque that still decorates the pool lobby reads, in part, as follows:
CITY OF SAN MATEO
JOINVILLE POOL
DEDICATED OCTOBER 5, 1968
TO THE MEMORY OF
GORDON R. JOINVILLE
OF THE SAN MATEO POLICE DEPARTMENT
A GENTLEMAN AND A FRIEND OF YOUTH
KILLED IN THE LINE OF DUTY MAY 23, 1968 |
At the time Joinville was killed, he was 34-years-old and had served with the San Mateo Police Department for 12 years. He was head of the Department's Juvenile Detective Bureau. Gordon Joinville was a native of San Francisco and a resident of San Mateo. He left behind a wife, Margaret (whom he married in 1961), and two young children, ages three and four. He has also been memorialized at the San Mateo County Hall of Justice, the Peace Officers Memorial in Sacramento, and the National Peace Officers Memorial in Washington D.C.
Gordon R. Joinville remains the ONLY City of San Mateo police officer to have been killed in the line of duty.
On February 24, 2010, this document was donated to
The San Mateo County Historical Association
and is now a part of the official
San Mateo County Archives
The San Mateo County History Museum is located at:
2200 Broadway, Redwood City, CA 94063-1639
Phone: 650-299-0104
Web Site: https://www.historysmc.org/ |
Click on the "PLAY" button below to see a 3 minute video slide show of
Gordon Joinville - A City of San Mateo Fallen Hero
(Requires that you have a high-speed Internet connection - Be sure to turn your speakers ON)
I would like to thank the following for their assistance in compiling the information for this report:
- First and foremost, San Mateo Police Chief Susan E. Manheimer and her secretary, Maya Nakamura. Without their help, this report would not exist.
- Margaret Joinville (Gordon Joinville's widow)
- William Larsen, former Chief Deputy District Attorney of San Mateo County, California
- Shirley Burns (Gordon Joinville's sister)
- John Horgan (Columnist for the San Mateo County Times)
- John Burr (Retired San Mateo Police Officer)
- Ed Trucco (Retired San Mateo Police Officer)
- Captain Nicholas Gottuso, Hillsborough Police Department
- Sergeant Bob Szelenyi, San Mateo Police Department
- Lieutenant Mike Brunicardi, San Mateo Police Department
- Bob Livingstone, LCSW - www.BobLivingstone.com
- Bob Reed
- Joanne Bracco
- Lori Piacente
- Larry Radetich (who was the first lifeguard at Joinville Pool on the day it opened!)
- Lane Poms
- Nancy Littlefield
- Bart Selby
- San Mateo County Historical Association (Archives)
- San Mateo Public Library (San Mateo Times archives)
- . . . and all the hundreds of "Gordon's Kids" whose identities shall remain confidential
Bob Leuten - November 2009, amended July 2021
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