By Greg Haitz
Aberdeen Police Chief David Benjamin said that when he started in Aberdeen, he had not heard of the Hafer family tragedies. “As I dug into the story, I learned more about the Hafer family and how sad it was. I’m trying to keep their memory alive.”
For three generations of the Hafer family, two of whom were in law enforcement, US 52 has played a fateful role in this sad story.
Harris Hafer was the first member of the Hafer family to be killed along US 52. He died when he was struck and killed in front of a church in Aberdeen.
Sadly, Lee Hafer, Harris’ son, died April 7, 1952, when he was struck by a truck in front of the Riverside Drive-In Theater. Mr. Hafer was helping his son Elmer, who was dealing with an intoxicated man. Lee Hafer was struck and killed by a truck right in front of his son, Elmer.
Sadly, the family tragedy continued, in December of 1954, Elmer Hafer, now Police Chief, died from injuries he suffered when struck by a truck. Chief Hafer was patrolling the highway (US 52) with Aberdeen Mayor Ted Mitchell in Mitchell’s car. They were following a tractor trailer with a load of ten tons of steel driven by Fred Douglas of Brookville, Ohio. On a curve the truck stopped unexpectedly, and Douglas got out to examine the brakes. Mitchell pulled up and Hafer got out of the car to warn Douglas about stopping in a curve. Douglas slowly started to drive away when one of the truck’s wheels hit the door of Mitchell’s car. This knocked Hafer to the ground where one of the truck wheels ran over Hafer. Hafer was taken to Hayswood Hospital in Maysville where he succumbed to his injuries six days later. No charges were filed against Douglas.
Consequently, Elmer Hafer became the third generation of his family to have been struck and killed on 52 in Aberdeen, and the second in law enforcement.
The family continues their role in law enforcement, as Aberdeen Police Chief Benjamin said that “a distant relative of the Hafer family currently works for the Police Department in Aberdeen.”
Thanks to Alison Gibson of the Union Township Library (Ripley) for providing information for this article.