OKMULKE, Oklv. – On Friday, Sept 6 law enforcement, friends, family, and colleagues gathered at the Mvskoke Dome in Okmulgee to honor the life of Muscogee (Creek) Nation Lighthorse Police Department Investigations Sergeant Lawrence Bannon.
Sergeant Bannon held a long career as a public servant, joining the Army Reserves after high school and beginning his law enforcement career shortly after. Sergeant Bannon worked as a police officer in Montana, North Dakota, and Okmulgee County before joining the Muscogee (Creek) Nation Lighthorse Police Department were he was eventually promoted to the position of Investigations Sergeant. He passed away Aug. 24 after a battle with cancer.
The morning memorial service was officiated by Deputy Chief Daniel Wind III. During the service, a slideshow of images captured Bannon’s life and accomplishments, including his service as a police officer, his sense of humor and his love of animals. In honor of Sergeant Bannon’s life of service, the memorial ended with a gun salute, an honor flag ceremony, and a final call from a LHPD dispatch officer. Bannon’s number, 12, was also retired.
Heartfelt remembrances and personal stories were shared by his many colleagues and his brother, Scott Bannon. Closing his statements about their upbringing and his brother’s love of fishing and hunting, Scott Bannon stated, “Larry was a wonderful brother and a very kind person.”
MCN LHPD Chief Richard Phillips, who knew Bannon for over 16 years, shared the following sentiment, “To know Bannon was to love him because you never questioned or doubted his loyalty to you. Whenever you asked anything of him, he was right there to help you. He had a heart 10 times his stature.”
In comments to Mvskoke Media about his longtime colleague, MCN Lighthorse Captain Les Vaughan shared how Bannon treated everyone with dignity. He stated, “He was very passionate for the victims. He was a great advocate for the downtrodden… He was one of a kind and he was ‘The Bannon.’ And, and if you talk about Bannon, everybody in this area knew Bannon or knew of Bannon, a little bit of a legend. The thing is, you know, we talk about the man, the myth, the legend. The thing is he actually could back up the myth of the legend. He was, he was a very good man and we were very lucky to have had the time we had with him. A lot of people go through their life and they never meet a true great man. He was actually a great man. He could talk, but he also could walk for a walk. And that’s a rarity in time.”
During the service, colleagues in law enforcement remembered their friend’s love of good cheese and Sour Patch Kids but also shared many stories of his kind heart evident in his habit of feeding animals, including raccoons and stray dogs.
Vaughan shared how Bannon took time to feed a baby raccoon during an out-of-state training in Indiana. Bannon had become concerned the little raccoon had possibly become stuck in the parking garage and began earning the critter’s trust. Vaughan shared, “He went over and sat there and worked until he could hand feed this raccoon Pop Tarts and Slim Jims in this parking garage. For about two days he fed his raccoon and then the raccoon was gone. So I don’t know if the raccoon hopped on a car and got a ride out of there or wandered out and went back down to the river. He was gone all at once but that worried him to the extent that he had to do something for that raccoon.”
Similar stories were shared by Chief Phillips, who recalled a time when Bannon fed stray dogs near their department, buying water pans, food dishes and 50 lb bags of dog food. He shared, “He would feed them every day. That was, that was him.”
During the service Principal Chief Hill expressed the loss not only to the LHPD but also the MCN. Chief Hill stated, “To lose a friend is the hardest thing. I know he loved his job and while he wasn’t Mvskoke, he was family. He will be missed, but not forgotten.”
In honor of Bannon’s passion for children and animals, it was requested that in lieu of flowers, those wishing can make a donation in Sergeant Bannon’s name to local Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) or a no-kill animal shelter.
