In Memory of Deputy Sheriff Ernest Loll

On the east side of SW 35th, by the junction with SW Arnold Street, sits a monument.

Its inscription reads,

“In memory of Deputy Sheriff Ernest C. Loll, who gave his life in line of duty at this spot on Sept 29, 1939. This tablet placed in loving rememberance by his fellow officers.”

Local historians say Sheriff Loll was killed by poachers. Every year in mid-May, flowers are placed at the monument by an Honor Guard from the Sheriff’s office on Peace Officers Memorial Day, a national annual event President Kennedy declared in 1962 to honor fallen officers.

Neighbors in West Portland Park remembered this memorial when the Neighborhood Association considered names for the Metro greenspace at the headwaters of Arnold Creek, purchased in 1995 as one of the first land acquisitions funded by the bond measure passed in 1994. The Neighborhood Association conducted a public process beginning in 1997 to solicit suggestions for a name for the forest we helped save from development. Longtime neighborhood stalwart Paul Mattson initially suggested honoring Sheriff Loll, and a unanimous vote at the Annual General meeting in 1998 endorsed his proposal. Another volunteer, former West Portland Park Neighborhood Association board member Nancy Drais, worked patiently through all the paperwork and red tape, and last Spring the Metro Council adopted the name Loll Wildwood for the twenty-ish acres they own and Portland Parks & Recreation manages in our neighborhood.

The last remaining task is to get Portland Parks & Recreation to use the adopted new name instead of “West Portland Park Natural Area”. That doesn’t have the same delightful ring to it as “Loll Wildwood”, nor does it honor our local hero or convey the sense of wild wonder and sanctuary around the creek for critters other than humans. Metro, the owner of the site, has named the forest for the officer who died defending its wildlife. I look forward to the day when citizens see the name Loll in all references to it – not only on the monument on SW 35th.