Society to honour slain police officer

A plaque honouring Sarnia Police Const. Jack Lewis will be unveiled later this year after all, thanks to some generous history buffs.

A plaque honouring Sarnia Police Const. Jack Lewis will be unveiled later this year after all, thanks to some generous history buffs.

Recently, the Sarnia Historical Society was rebuffed in its attempt to claim an unpaid $1,000 reward offered for the capture of notorious gangster Norman (Red) Ryan.

The Society applied for the money with hopes of applying it toward a memorial plaque to Lewis, who was shot and killed by Ryan while responding to a burglary in progress at a downtown liquor store on May 23, 1936.

But after the province rejected the claim, the Society received three phone calls in rapid succession from individuals pledging a total of $4,600 for the project, said spokesperson Phil Egan.

As a result, a plaque honouring Lewis will be unveiled at a public event later this year at 140 Christina St., where Ryan and his gang battled city police in a gunfight.