Falmouth To Honor Former Patrolman Samuel Pierce

By: Enterprise Staff
Published: 05/16/12

In 1932 Samuel F. Pierce joined the Falmouth Police Department, eventually working his way up to become an officer.

A little more than a year later, Officer Pierce would lose his life in a motorcycle accident. To this day he remains the only Falmouth police officer to have died in the line of duty.

Patrolman Pierce was 37 when he died and left his wife, Lena M. (Mills) Pierce. She never remarried and died in 1958. The couple had two daughters Marie, who was 11 in 1933, and Eileen, who was 10.

At the time of the accident, which occurred on August 16, 1933, Patrolman Pierce was on his routine patrol which took him through Falmouth Heights and along the waterfront to Menauhant Road. At about 7:15 PM his motorcycle struck the tail end of a truck and Patrolman Pierce was thrown through the air and landed in the bushes eight feet from the roadside. He was pronounced dead at the scene. 

The truck driver, Manuel Gomes of East Falmouth, was convicted of negligent driving and leaving the scene of an accident. He was later acquitted by a jury on appeal. 

Since 2009 the town has held a brief ceremony remembering him as part of Police Officers Memorial Day, observed nationally to remember all officers who have died in the line of duty. 

Patrolman Pierce's name has since been added to both the National Law Enforcement Memorial in Washington, DC, and to the Massachusetts Law Enforcement Memorial in Boston.

This year a permanent memorial will be unveiled in Falmouth in honor of Patrolman Pierce whose family members will be in attendance.

Town Manager Julian M. Suso will be the guest speaker of the ceremony which begins at 10 AM in front of the Falmouth Police Department. The event will begin with a procession of uniformed officers led by the Falmouth Police Department's honor guard. 

Following the procession a memorial wreath will be placed with the police department flag and the memorial markers. The public is welcome to attend Friday's ceremony.