JACKSON, Mich. – Three Corrections Department officers who were killed on duty, including one in 1893, have been honored with memorial signs along Interstate 94 in Jackson County.
“To me, it's a bittersweet day,” Paul Ajegba, director of the Transportation Department, said at an event Monday. “It's bitter because our condolences go to the families for the loss of your loved ones. But it's sweet in the sense that we're recognizing their service to the state of Michigan.”
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George Haight, a veteran of the Civil War, died in 1893. He was the first prison employee to be killed in the line of duty when an inmate poisoned his food.
Josephine McCallum and Jack Budd were killed by prisoners in separate attacks in 1987.
“It is out of duty that we not forget those that serve and have given the ultimate in sacrifice,” state Rep. Julie Alexander said.
Family members spoke at the event.
“Keeping her in our memory — that never goes away,” said McCallum’s husband, Bill McCallum.
Haight’s great-great granddaughter, Kathy Evans, also spoke at the event.