Community mourns loss of former officer

MOSES LAKE —Dale Baltzell, 59, was described as a reliable officer who put his heart and soul into his work with the Moses Lake Police Department.

The 33-year police veteran died Wednesday at Kootenai Medical Center in Coeur D’Alene, Idaho.

“It’s a tragic loss for all of us,” Moses Lake Police Capt. Dave Ruffin said. “He was very, very reliable and someone you could always count on. Certainly our thoughts and prayers go out to Dale Baltzell’s family.”

Baltzell joined the Moses Lake Police Department in 1975, serving as a detective and a patrol officer. He retired in March 2008. Police Chief Dean Mitchell said he was a dedicated employee of the city.

“Even more importantly, he was an extremely close family man. He and his wife, Kim, were married for 35 years,” Mitchell said. “He had three children and six grandchildren. He was a Vietnam War veteran.”

During the officer’s retirement party, he was presented with a plaque honoring him for his commitment to the department’s core values of professionalism, integrity, compassion and service.

Baltzell received numerous commendations for his part in several difficult cases, including assisting in a homicide case, a 1988 hostage situation on Juniper Drive and catching burglars, Mitchell said.

He said the officer always made the department proud, adding no one had worked there as long as Baltzell.

“He rarely used sick leave. Before he retired he had vacation he didn’t use. He enjoyed being a police officer. He enjoyed some of the routines. He enjoyed the comradeship he received as a police officer,” Mitchell said. “He was kind of one of those guys who bridged the gap between old school and new school.”

The police chief said Baltzell offered his 33 years worth of experience to the other officers in the department.

Baltzell’s daughter, Angela Nordhus, describes her father as a reliable and devoted family man with a dry sense of humor, a love of history, coffee, music and motorcycle trips.

“My sister and I were both in drill team and it’s not a place you see many fathers, but he was there for every performance. That was six years worth of stuff and he was always there,” she said.

Baltzell was also knowledgeable about history, Nordhus said.

“If we asked him a question about history, we got the answer and everything that led up to it and sometimes the stuff that came after,” she said.

The former officer recently became a substitute bus driver for the Moses Lake School District. Nordhus said he would share stories about the children on the bus, making her feel like she knew them.

Lori Holmes, another of Baltzell’s daughters, said he was loyal to his friends and family, and actively involved in her life, attending drill team and choir performances.

One of Holmes favorite memories of her father was when she was learning to drive a truck with a manual transmission. When she pulled onto state Route 17, the truck stalled in the center of the highway.

“He said, ‘You’re either going to want to put in first and drive or we’re going to get hit by the cars coming from the left, or we’re going to get hit by the cars coming from the right and, by the way, I don’t want to spill my coffee,’” she said. “I was panicking and he was calm, cool and collected.” 

A service is planned for 10 a.m. on Sept. 9 at the Assembly of God Church, located at 431 E Brown Ave. in Moses Lake. People are invited to sign the guest book at www.kayserschapel.com.