LOOKING BACK

Young Chang

My editor and I were driving back from lunch the other day when we

passed by Bob Henry Park in Newport Beach.

My editor suggested a history on Henry, since he had obviously been

important enough to have a park dedicated in his honor. At this point,

because neither of us had been at the Pilot in 1995, we had no idea that

Henry had given more than money, time or service to Newport Beach.

He had given his life.

The late police officer was shot seven years ago by a suicidal father

who killed himself after shooting Henry. It happened across the street

from where Bob Henry Park is today, near a tree that has since been

replanted in the heart of the park.

After being shot by Carlos Caicedo in a parking lot on 16th Street,

the officer stayed in a coma for 33 days. Then he finally stopped holding

on.

The Newport Beach Police Department grieved deeply during that time,

and officers as well as the city acted like a family to support Henry’s

wife and three kids. Newport Landing restaurant held a “beautiful”

fund-raiser with an auction, said Newport Beach resident Gay

Wassall-Kelly.

Henry was the 38th officer in Orange County to be killed in the line

of duty. The Westminster native was 30 years old when he died and was

going on six years of serving the police department.

“He was a great guy with a great sense of humor,” said Sgt. Steve

Shulman of the Newport Beach Police Department. “He was hard working and

dedicated to his family and his work.”He was the third of four children,

said Shulman, who was reading from a biography put together by Henry’s

wife Patty, who has since remarried and lives in South Orange County.

Henry grew up in an Irish family, played little league baseball and

junior All-American football, played varsity football in high school,

enjoyed surfing and was a devoted Catholic.

The park was dedicated to Henry in August of 1997.

“He was very quiet but spoke judiciously,” Shulman said. “He was just

a very nice guy.”

* Do you know of a person, place or event that deserves a historical

Look Back? Let us know. Contact Young Chang by fax at (949) 646-4170;

e-mail at young.chang@latimes.com; or mail her at c/o Daily Pilot, 330 W.

Bay St., Costa Mesa, CA 92627.