Obituaries : Darrell D. Ulmer; Oxnard Police Officer

Darrell Dean Ulmer of Port Hueneme, a 29-year veteran with the Oxnard Police Department, died of pneumonia last week. He was 51.

Funeral services for Ulmer, who worked as a patrolman and detective before a stroke affected his vision, were held Wednesday at the First Presbyterian Church in Oxnard. About 200 people attended. He was buried at Conejo Mountain Memorial Park in Camarillo.

Ulmer was born on March 9, 1944, in Hutchinson, Kan. His parents, Joe and Maxine Ulmer, soon moved to Port Hueneme, where Ulmer graduated from high school in 1962.

He also attended Ventura College, receiving an associate’s degree in administration of justice in 1972.

In 1966, at age 22, Ulmer joined the Oxnard Police Department as a police officer. From 1972 to 1983, he was a patrol officer and also worked on the city’s Special Enforcement Team, an outfit modeled after the Los Angeles Police Department’s SWAT team. In 1975, he was nominated for officer of the year. He was promoted to burglary detective in 1982.

In 1988, Ulmer suffered a stroke that severely impaired his vision, blinding him in one eye. After that, he was assigned to conduct background investigations and other desk work.

Cmdr. Ken Nishihara, who started his career with the Oxnard department four months after Ulmer, said Ulmer was an exemplary officer who will be missed.

“He was a very good man and a very good police officer until he got that debilitating problem,” Nishihara said. “He could only see out of one eye, but he still helped out and did a lot of work for us.”

Ulmer, who was divorced, died of pneumonia Dec. 29 in Port Hueneme. He is survived by his daughter, Amber Denise Millen of Camarillo, and his parents, who still live in Port Hueneme.