DOUGLAS, Mass. — Forty years ago, Massachusetts State Police Officer George L. Hanna picked up an extra shift.
“He wasn’t supposed to work that day,” said daughter Deborah Hanna-Kearney, who was home alone with her father on Feb. 26, 1983.
“He asked me first: ‘Are you okay being home if I take this shift’ -- and I said, ‘No, go ahead, Dad,’” said Hanna-Kearney, who was 14 at the time. “And I remember for some reason that I walked him to his cruiser and I watched him drive up Richards Road hill.”
At the time, the family lived in what is known as the Queens section of Holliston.
“I never thought that would be the last time I would see my father alive,” Hanna-Kearney said.
That night, during a routine traffic stop in Auburn, Officer Hanna was shot multiple times and killed. Three men were convicted in 1985 of his murder. Each is serving a life sentence.
Hanna left behind his wife and three children -- their lives, shattered -- but also with an appreciation for the horrors law enforcement families sometimes have to go through.
“These officers that have families, they leave and they don’t know if they’ll be back to be with their loved ones again,” said daughter Kim Hanna-Wittenberg. “It’s not just a routine call now. It could be much more than that. It’s not just a routine call to someone’s house. There could be a lot more going on behind those doors than what police expect.”
Each year, the Hanna family recognizes police officers who exhibit bravery, with the George L. Hanna Award.
“You have to focus on keeping my Dad’s memory alive and the sacrifices he made that night and what all police officers make by putting on that uniform,” said Hanna-Kearney. “It may be the last time they see their family.”
The Hanna Award is given to officers who bravely survived and some who bravely perished.
“There are so many more officers who are good than the ones who spoil it for the rest,” said Hanna-Kearney.
Forty years might seem like a long time -- but it’s not for the Hanna family.
“It actually feels like yesterday,” said Hanna-Kearney. “The only difference is, we try not to focus on the bad and the evil thing that happened to him that night. And we try to remember the good things.”
The good things include memories of George Hanna, the attentive father, who never tired of entertaining and playing with his kids -- even erecting a miniature replica of The Green Monster in his Holliston yard, where the neighborhood kids played ‘Hanna-ball.’
And Deborah remembers George Hanna, the trooper, who came home and wept one night after holding a dying young woman in his arms along Interstate 495.
“My father was the first on the scene and he was holding her,” said Hanna-Kearney. “She thought he was her father.”
Deborah Hanna-Kearney said she’ll see her Dad again. But it remains a painful wait for that reunion.
“We still have that endless pit in our hearts,” she said. “We will miss him every minute of our lives.”
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