Hundreds of friends and colleagues gathered Friday to pay their respects to a San Diego leader who won't soon be forgotten: former San Diego Police Chief and San Diego County Sheriff, William "Bill" Kolender.
Kolender died at age 80 on Oct. 6, 2015, after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease.
On Friday afternoon, friends, family and those he worked with gathered at Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Miramar to celebrate and remember his life.
Kolender began his career in law enforcement as a patrol officer with the San Diego Police Department (SDPD) in 1956. According to the San Diego Police Museum, Kolender had just gotten out of the military and was looking for a job to help support his young family, not necessarily a long police career.
He was promoted to lieutenant in 1965 and elected as president of the San Diego Police Officer’s Association (SDPOA).
In 1970, he was appointed Chief of the SDPD, serving in that office for 13 years.
During Friday’s memorial service, colleagues and friends shared stories about Kolender, talking about his personality, his sense of humor and his larger-than-life character.
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"How did he do this? I look at it, and I just think it's probably because of a personality, really, that was bigger than life. He had an ability to talk with people, listen to people and connect with people whether they were a movie star, a governor, or the cop or deputy on the beat," said current San Diego County Sheriff William “Bill” Gore.
Kolender was elected the 28th Sheriff of San Diego County in 1994 and was sworn into office in 1995. He was re-elected as Sheriff three times after that, in 1998, 2002 and 2006. For much of his career with the San Diego County Sheriff's Department (SDSO), he worked alongside Undersheriff Jack Drown.
After more than 50 years of service, he retired as Sheriff in 2009 at age 73. He was the oldest of California’s 58 county sheriffs.
