Kenneth Ray McKee

Kenneth Ray McKee

78, of West Fork died Tuesday, April 17, 2007, at Washington Regional Medical Center in Fayetteville.

He was born Aug. 6, 1928, in Prague, Okla., to Jesse and Ena McKee.

They moved to West Fork in 1940, where he graduated high school. He spent 48 years of his life as a law enforcement officer or "peace officer," as he preferred to be called, advancing through the ranks of major, commander of the Highway Patrol, head of narcotics investigations and chief of security for both Gov. Orval Faubus and Winthrop Rockefeller.

McKee began his career in law enforcement as a motorcycle officer for the Fayetteville City Police in 1953. On May 17, 1954, he joined the Arkansas State Police as a trooper, stationed at different times in Little Rock, Brinkley, Dumas, Mountain Home and Fayetteville. In October 1957, he was promoted to the rank of sergeant and in 1959, he was assigned as highway patrol post commander at Fayetteville. In 1960, McKee was promoted to the rank of lieutenant and transferred to Little Rock as assistant highway patrol commander for the state of Arkansas. He was chief of the security staff for Gov. Orval Faubus and traveled with the governor. In 1964, he attained captain's rank and was assigned as assistant commander of Special Services Division. In 1967, he was promoted to major and appointed commander of the Highway Patrol for the state of Arkansas, where he introduced the use of aircraft as a law enforcement tool in Arkansas. Responsible for the State Police fleet of vehicles, he was a perfectionist when it came to clean, well-running vehicles for officers.

He served as a special assistant to Gov. Winthrop Rockefeller from 1968-1972, during which time he worked extensively with Rockefeller's civil rights initiative, oversaw the cleanup of illegal gambling in Hot Springs and helped end Arkansas' problems with state prisons.

After Dr. Martin Luther King's assassination in 1968, his years of experience in improving race relations were invaluable in negotiating an end to civil disturbances throughout the state. After Rockefeller left office, he was assigned to the Criminal Investigations Division and began working the Narcotics Division, in 1974; he supervised narcotics investigations for several Northwest Arkansas counties. During this period, he was a key figure in the arrests of persons involved in the largest heroin, cocaine, amphetamine and marijuana sales in state history at that time.

In 1979, he retired from the Arkansas State Police and took a job as chief of police in Clinton, Okla. He returned to Northwest Arkansas in 1980 and spent the next nine years as probation and court services administrator for Judge Mahlon Gibson. In 1990, he was elected sheriff of Washington County and remained in that office for 10 years. He created and instituted the non-violent prisoner work-release program that has been so successful in Washington County and has been used as a model for work-release programs in other counties. He upgraded communications equipment and transportation resources of the Washington County Sheriff's Office, enabling officers to respond more efficiently and more quickly when needed. The Washington County Jail facility was expanded and renovated under his watch. McKee was instrumental in setting up the Law Enforcement Academy classes in Northwest Arkansas, allowing officers to obtain certification locally rather than attending the academy at Camden.

He was a member of New Sulphur Freewill Baptist Church in Prairie Grove. He was a U.S. Navy veteran. He was a certified law enforcement instructor in both the states of Arkansas and Oklahoma. He had hundreds of hours of law enforcement training, including the National Judicial College in Reno, Nev. He attended numerous national governor's conferences and law enforcement conferences and workshops. He was a board member of the State Crime Lab for 10 years and served as chairman for four of those years; he also was a member of the State Police Retiree's Association. He was a member of the Arkansas Sheriff's Association and the National Sheriff's Association and was active in the Arkansas Sheriff Boys and Girls Ranch. He was a member of the American legion Shelton Tucker Post 27 and received the 1993 Officer of the Year Award and was also a member of Kiwanis.

McKee was a 32nd-degree Mason and a member of the Mountain Home Masonic Lodge 225, where he recently received a 50-year award, and York Rite of Fayetteville as well as Amaranth. A member of the M&N Augustine Foundation Board of Directors, he spent his life helping other people. He was chosen to receive the 2007 Distinguished Citizen of the Year Award by the Washington County Historical Society. He was also on the board of the National Cemetery. He raised cattle for 40 years, belonging to the Arkansas Cattleman's Association, Santa Gertrudis Breeders International, Beefmaster Breeders and the Angus Association.

He wanted to be remembered as an old-fashioned officer, one who was available to assist others any time of the day or night. He spent his time and his money doing so. He believed in programs for behavior modification and drug abuse whenever possible rather than incarceration. He was an avid animal lover and he provided a home for dozens of strays and "presents" from people over the years.

He was preceded in death by his first wife, Maudileen Sargent McKee; his parents, Jesse and Ena McKee; one brother, Leonard McKee and one sister, Louise McKee.

Survivors include his wife, Linda McKee of the home; two daughters, Diana Strange and husband C.A. and Mary Beals and husband Larry, all of West Fork; two granddaughters, Heather Galbraith and husband Mike of Bella Vista and Lonnie Strange of West Fork; two great-grandsons, Peyton and Nikolas Galbraith of Bella Vista; three stepsons, Steve Harrison and wife Janice, Wesley Harrison and wife Lisa and Chad Harrison and wife Sheila, all of West Fork; 10 stepgrandchildren, Jeremy and wife Amy, Stephanie, Dylan and Haley Harrison, Lucas Moore, Cassie Watkins, Matt and Amber Williams, all of West Fork, Curt Strange of Conway and Stacy Strange of Louisville, Ky.; and five stepgreat-grandchildren, Cameron and Jordyn Harrison of West Fork, Michael Israel of West Fork and Mitch and Cole Strange of Conway.

Funeral services will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at West Fork High School gymnasium with Brother Glen Faulkner officiating.

Graveside service will be at 4 p.m. Saturday at Garden Grove Cemetery in Prague, Okla., under the direction of Moore's Chapel in Fayetteville, online at www.mooresfuneralchapelcom.

Visitation will be from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday at Moore's.

Pallbearers will be Capt. Les Brauns and Lt. Lance King of the Arkansas State Police, Lt. Mike Reynolds and Detective Mike Hammonsem of the Fayetteville Police Department and Sheriff Tim Helder and Detective Charles Rexford of the Washington County Sheriff's Office.

Honorary pallbearers will be all other law enforcement, fire and emergency medical personnel.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to Arkansas Sheriff's Youth Ranch Inc., P.O. Box 3964, Batesville, 72503.