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Bridge named after fallen officer

Vince Hawkes, commissioner of the OPP, shows Margaret Heath a replica of a sign memorializing her late husband. Det. Insp. Lorne Foran, who was killed while on the job in 1982, has had the Stevenson Road bridge over Highway 401 named in his honour. (Photo by Graeme McNaughton)

By Graeme McNaughton/The Oshawa Express

On the night of May 4, 1982, Det. Insp. Lorne Foran was on Highway 401, making his way home. Working on a case involving the disappearance and murder of a woman, Foran was headed east, away from London, when his car went off the road. The car flipped over, and Foran was later declared dead in hospital.

Now, 35 years later, drivers on Highway 401 will drive under a bridge named in honour of the fallen OPP officer.

The Stevenson Road bridge over the multi-lane highway will now be known as the Detective Inspector Lorne Foran Memorial Bridge, one of 71 structures across the province named after police officers who have died while on the job.

“This bridge dedication is an important act of remembrance which will help preserve the memory of this fallen OPP officer,” Vince Hawkes, the commissioner of the OPP, told attendees at a dedication ceremony held 35 years to the day of Foran’s death.

“I didn’t have the privledge of knowing Det. Insp. Foran personlly, but I do know of the sacrafice that he has made. I’ve attended every one of these bridge dedications since I became commissioner over three years ago now, and every single one of them is unique.”

While many at the service remembered Lorne the police officer, they also took the time to remember Lorne the husband, Lorne the father and Lorne the avid outdoorsman.

“He was a good husband, and I’ll always remember the good times we had camping and fishing and things like that,” Margaret Heath, Lorne’s wife, tells The Oshawa Express.

“He was a real family man when he was home, a real family man.”

 

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