Pride and Pain : Parents of Slain Officer Share Grief, Express Gratitude

On the mantle in the living room of Bill and Lois Henry’s home is a large portrait of their son, slain Newport Beach Police Officer Bob Henry.

“I had never seen him in his uniform,” a tearful Lois Henry said as she gazed at the color image of her son, dressed in navy blue. “It’s beautiful.”

The couple, joined by their 34-year-old daughter, Kathy Naumann, on Tuesday spoke publicly for the first time about the young officer’s monthlong battle for life and about the ultimate loss of their child, which psychologists say is one of the most traumatic of human experiences.

In the Westminster home where they have lived for nearly 20 years, the Henrys recalled the good times, talked of their pain and expressed deep gratitude to the thousands of people who supported them during their vigil.

“Everyone was praying for a miracle,” said Bill Henry, 60. “And we did get a miracle. We got Bob for an extra 30 days, and we said the things we needed to say to him. We know he heard us.”

Bob Henry, 30, died on April 13 surrounded by his family and close friends. His death came a month after he was shot in the line of duty by a man who then took his own life.

A family portrait taken 12 years ago shows a smiling Bob Henry seated in the center of the group. “Bob was always the center of the picture,” his father said. “Now the center is gone.”

But the family finds solace in the three young children of Bob and his wife, Patty: Bobby, 6, Jenna, 2, and Alyssa, 2 months.

“He’s still living through them,” Naumann said. “We are thankful for them and want to be there for them.”

During the month in which Bob Henry was in a coma and since his death, the family said, they have received an outpouring of support, including a memorial service at The Pond in Anaheim that drew about 2,000 people.

“We’ve seen so many good things through this tragedy,” said Lois Henry, 63. “There were so many good people who prayed for Bob and for us. It was so beautiful.”

The family specifically noted the unfaltering support of members of the Newport Beach Police Department.

The Henrys, who have been married for 37 years, took great pride in their son’s career and in his life. Just four months ago, Bill Henry rode with Bob in his patrol car during one of the young officer’s shifts.

“I got a whole new perspective of my son,” he said. “I saw him doing his job, and I saw that he did it well.”

Lois Henry said that when her son joined the Newport Beach Police Department five years ago, she felt relieved that he would be working in a relatively safe city. “I never expected him to be a police officer,” she said, “since he was the smallest of the three sons.”

After last week’s funeral, the grieving mother asked her youngest son, Jim, take her for a drive around Newport Beach. On that trip, she said, she saw tributes to her son everywhere.

“We took pictures of all the blue ribbons,” she said, “the flags at half staff. . . . I wanted to have those mementos.”

When she visited the church parking lot where her son was shot on March 12, she said tearfully, “there were flowers, poems, and people left cards. And someone had carved into a tree: ‘We love you, Bob.’ ”

Though the wounded officer had remained comatose since the shooting, his condition improved enough for him to be moved out of the intensive care unit of Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian.

But a blood clot developed in his lung, a common complication in acutely ill people. That led to cardiac arrest.

“We all hoped and felt that he would pull through,” his father said. “Bob is a fighter, and we felt that if he could get to a rehabilitation center, he could be his old self again. But God had other plans.”

The family said their loss and grief will be with them forever.

“I loved Bob very much,” Lois Henry said sadly. “There will be a void that will never go away. An ache will always be there.”

Said Bill Henry: “I just want to tell parents to take your kids, put your hands on their shoulders, look them in the eye and tell them you love them, respect them and are proud of them--while you can.”