Walter J. Rossa

Divisions Served: “K,” “E”

Medals & Honours: Long Service Medal

Pillar Location: Pillar X, Row 9, Column B

Highlights: 

• Training from October 9, 1973 to April 1974
• Posted to St. Paul, Alberta from April 1974 to Dec 1975
• Married in Oct 19, 1974 to Marilyn Rossa (Burton) from Seattle, Washington
• Compassionate transfer to Surrey detachment in Dec 1975 due to medical issues with my spouse
• General duty in the Newton area of Surrey and trained 2 recruits
• Police dog services training in Innisfail, Alberta from 1979 to 1980 then posted back to Surrey police dog section with PSD Rocky
• Surrey PDS from 1980 to 1987 then promoted to Coquitlam PDS as corporal of a 2-person unit
• Michael Rossa born on April 5, 1981
• Amy Rossa born January 20, 1983
• Coquitlam PDS from 1987 to 1991 then moved to Burnaby PDS to i/c of a larger unit
  Burnaby PDS from 1991 to 1995
• 1995 – Promoted back to Surrey detachment as i/c of a 9-person PDS unit as Sergeant
  Retired in December 1999 and to Metro Vancouver Transit police until Dec 2017 and retired as a Sergeant
• Police dogs – Rocky 1, Rocky 2, Radar, & Amo
• Involved in the first Stanley cup riot in 1994 with Lower mainland tactical team
• Involved with Robert Olsen (serial child killer) looking for burial sites
• Worked with Emergency response teams as a dog handler in Surrey, Burnaby and Coquitlam
• Still married to Marilyn since 1974 with 3 grandchildren and one on the way in December 2019
• Kaitlin 6 years old, Lizzy 24 months (Amy’s children), Axel 3 years old, Millie born December 11,2019
• My son Michael is current a sergeant with the Metro Vancouver Transit police living in Langley
• My daughter Amy is living in Port Alberni with her family as an urban planner
• We have a place in Mesa, Arizona and spend some the winter there
• I play pickleball, ski, weight lift and bike ride to keep fit and stay alive

I enjoyed my career as a police officer for 43 years with the RCMP and Metro Transit Police!