Recollections from the Historian

St. Louis County, MO Police Department

by Jerry Hawkins (Ret.), DSN 591 Terrence O. Wippler, DSN 371 (Ret.)

On August 7, 1970 the University of Missouri, St Louis, awarded the first Bachelor of Science degree in the Administration of Justice to Patrolman Terrence O. Wippler, a member of the St Louis County Police Department. Wippler, 32 years old at the time, and a confirmed bachelor then, started working on his degree at Southeast Missouri State College in 1956. He was also associated with the Cape Girardeau, MO Special Police, having been commissioned on May 19, 1958. He transferred to Harris Teachers College in 1958 for one semester and received his A.A. degree in 1959. He then went to work as a civilian at the St Louis Metropolitan Police Department assigned to the Traffic Division under Major Cibulka and Captain Shumacher. While working for St. Louis Police, he attended St. Louis University night school for one year.

He entered the U.S. Army in 1960 and spent three years in the Military Police Corps serving in the U.S. and Europe. Upon his return home he went to work for the Terminal Railroad Police Department. When the authorized strength of the St. Louis County Police Department was increased, Wippler was appointed on November 24, 1963 and became one of the original members of the St Louis County Police Department (Traffic Bureau). After the St Louis County Junior College District started its Law Enforcement program, Wippler entered this college program in 1966.

I (Jerry Hawkins) first met him there in September, 1966 when I was with the Maplewood P.D. He was one of 18 honor graduates in January 1969. He then transferred to the University of Missouri-St Louis the same month, as they had started a law enforcement program in the fall of 1968. Having fought the rotating work shifts during junior college and during his first two semesters at the University of Missouri, he went on a day shift assignment in August 1969 as the Traffic Course Instructor in the Greater St Louis Police Academy. Patrolman Wippler maintained a 4.0 average in his major of the Administration of Justice, and became the first police officer to graduate from the University of Missouri with that degree in the state.

In August of 1971 he was able to take a leave of absence to teach Law Enforcement and pursue his Master’s Degree. He taught at 22 sites around the state, three nights a week for the Law Enforcement Extension, of the University of Missouri, Columbia. In October, 1973, he began teaching at the St. Louis Police Academy for four years, during which time he completed his Master’s Degree in Criminal Justice from Central Missouri State University.

Terry finished his career with various assignments in several precincts. He married long-time Reserve Officer Betty Williamson in August 1995, after he retired on December 1, 1994, so as to not conflict marriage with his police career. The new couple built a home in Cedar Hill and lived there together until her death in June 2008.

In April 1995, he and several other retired police commanders formed the St. Louis County Retirees Association. About that same time, he joined the Cedar Hill Fire Department Auxiliary where he will soon complete 28 years as the Staff Photographer, among other functions. During this period he was also involved in nine other groups and organizations where he spent a great deal of time and effort. It should be noted that Terry has been known to organize and pay for luncheons and dinners for some of these organizations out of his own pocket.

The den, or family room, in his home has three large walls covered with awards and citations, but the only thing more extensive than his resume is his generous nature and friendly demeanor. Terry, who turned 85 in January, will soon be moving to Cedarhurst of Tesson Heights due to recent health issues.