fbinaa_jul-sept-2020-Final-digital-v2.FINAL

F B I N A A . O R G | J U L Y / S E P T 2 0 2 0

Continued from "Historian", on page 20

232 in 2008. Older brother Clark was on the list to attend several times, but had assignments involving incident command and operational planning that conspired to thwart being able to attend. Clark was finally able to attend the National Executive Institute (NEI) Session 27 in 2006 as the first Assistant Chief from a department other than New York, Chicago, LA and D.C. to be appointed. At least he could commiserate with the other NA graduates in his family on the size of the rooms and walking through the gerbil tubes. Both Skagens were a presence in many community activi- ties – it was the consummate “two for one” if either signed up for a volunteer project. One of Roy’s favorite experiences was when Noreen became involved in judging several Miss Washing- ton pageants and even one Miss America pageant in Atlantic City. She also served on the boards of Childhaven, Kid’s Place and the Boy Scouts of America. Noreen’s passing in 2017 left a huge gap in Roy’s life and he misses her terribly. He consoles himself with the realization that her life was a blessing to so many. Roy was the one who suggested profiling the historical information of their status as the “first couple” to complete the National Academy.

Roy were simultaneously Assistant Chiefs, she commanded the Field Support Bureau and he commanded the Investigations Bu- reau. From the time they married, Mom was in Operations, Crime Prevention and Field Support for almost the entire time that Roy was in Investigations. That institutional practice may have eroded since their tenure, owing to union grievances and constitutional challenges, but back when Mom and Roy were married they were never within the same division or chain of command.” Roy added this comment on the subject “ We went to great lengths to keep our careers total separate. We never had lunch or even a cup of coffee together when they were on duty. If we both had to be at the same command staff meeting together while representing our respective commands, we could never seat ourselves on the same side of the conference table. It made our professional lives work well. We had no official photos taken of us together in uniform as it seemed to be the most prudent thing to do.” When Roy attended the NA in 1972, Clark was only 17 years old and a high school Junior. Clark’s memory was that since Nor- een had raised them as a single parent for many years, both boys were very independent and life didn’t change that much. Two years later when Noreen attended and Roy had the responsibili- ties to corral the kids in her absence, Clark had already left for college. Clark Kimerer retired in 2014 as the Assistant Chief of Seattle Police Department. His younger brother, Scott Kimerer retired in 2017 from the King County Sheriff’s Office as the Chief of the contract city of Burien. Scott also continued the National Academy tradition set by Noreen and Roy by attending Session

Although many have now attained that status, Roy and Noreen remain as the trailblazers.

21