Community members, local leaders and Overland Park first responders gathered at the Deanna Rose Children’s Farmstead to honor the life and service of the fallen officer for whom the site is named.
Officer Deanna Rose died 40 years ago this week at age 26 — the first Overland Park officer and the first female officer in Kansas to be killed in the line of duty. She was gravely injured trying to arrest a man for driving under the influence and died two days later.
After her death, the Kansas Association of Chiefs of Police gave her the Award for Valor.
On Monday, the community marked her end of watch with a brief commemoration ceremony. The farmstead, still decorated for its annual holiday light display, was lit up in blue and bore a banner declaring Rose’s end of watch on Jan. 26, 1985.
An honor guard made up of first responders from the Overland Park Police and Fire departments presided over the ceremony, and Overland Park Police Chief Doreen Jokerst laid a memorial wreath near Rose’s memorial plaque in front of the farmstead.
Over the radio, a dispatcher read out a final call for Officer Rose.

Officer Rose’s “spirit of joy” lives on
In 1985, the city of Overland Park rededicated the farmstead — which opened in 1978 — in Rose’s memory, a nod to her love of animals.
“Deanna Rose Children’s Farmstead stands as a reminder of her commitment to our community, ensuring that her memory lives on for generations to come,” said Jeremy Myers, assistant director of Overland Park Parks and Recreation.
He also called it “a place where her spirit of joy and compassion continues to thrive.”

‘She left a legacy for all of us’
Former Overland Park Police Chief John Douglass, who was a watch commander for the department at the time of Rose’s death in 1985, also reflected on her life Monday.
“Deanna Rose was much more than a name on the wall,” Douglass said, alluding to a Statler Brothers song. “She was a wife, she was a daughter, she was a sibling to her brothers and sisters, she was a colleague to the men and women of the Overland Park Police Department, and she was a friend.”
He remembered her as “courageous” and “determined,” noting that she died in the line of duty in an era when people questioned whether a woman could serve in law enforcement at all.

“Trust me, she set aside any of those doubts, not just by her actions that night, but her actions prior to that night,” Douglass said. “She left a legacy for all of us, both male and female officers, but especially fror the female officers who carry that legacy today and build upon it.”
Laura Ryan, who was friends with Rose and now sits on the Friends of the Farmstead Advisory Board, spoke as well on Monday. The duo kept their horses at the same stables at what is now College Boulevard and Mission Road.
“When they go through those doors [to the farmstead], they’re carrying on a piece of Deanna,” she said.
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