Kern Valley Sun
It’s been a long time coming, but it’s been worth the wait. The words were repeated countless times by family, friends and colleagues gathered at Saturday’s bittersweet dedication ceremony for Kern County Sheriff’s Deputy Joe Hudnall, Jr.
“Ever since Joe’s death, I don’t think anyone can drive this highway and not think of him,” said Commander Dan Leper, a close friend. “Today’s ceremony is hugely important, not only to the Sheriff’s Office, but to the community and Joe’s family.”
  
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“I’d been gone from law enforcement for a few years and forgotten the price we pay sometimes,” Youngblood said. “I’d become dull to it. At that very moment I realized that the men and women who do this job, we owe them a great thanks. We owe them everything. They’re the separation between anarchy and democracy. Sometimes we forget that. If we don’t have people like Joe Hudnall we have nothing,” he said.
“Every time I see this sign, every time Joe’s children see this sign as they grow up, they’re going to remember their dad, they’re going to remember the deputy and his smiling face. We’re going to keep that legacy alive,” Youngblood added.
“I want to thank Jean Fuller she really is the one who made this happen,” he said.
Assemblymember Jean Fuller spoke of introspection in subdued tones, “These are the times when we all get to look into our hearts and say, ‘Who really cares about us?’ Who is it that everyday puts their life on the line that we don’t think about; maybe it becomes routine to us.
“Maybe sometimes we don’t understand how much they are giving, their family, their friends, Fuller said.
“Today is the day where we give honor to Deputy Joe Hudnall and his wife and his children and all the colleagues, retired and active, who get up every day and care about so much that they risk their lives and actually have to give it.”
Carrie Hudnall gave thanks to the many people who oversaw the memorial sign project. “Thanks (retired senior deputy) Steve Urner, who wanted to start the project going, and to Sgt. Dean Marshall who worked with him.”
Hudnall explained that after a road or highway is renamed, it becomes the responsibility of the family or organizers of the bill to raise funds to pay for the cost of the two signs and their placement.
“There’s one person I owe more thanks than I believe are words for,” she said. “Glen Pierce of Gotta Go Bail Bonds stepped forward and offered to pay most of the cost of the signs and their placement. I’m not sure how to thank a man who so generously stepped forward prior to ever meeting myself or my family. Glen, you have no idea how special you’ve become to my family.”
Hudnall expressed her gratitude for the “peace, pride and honor we will have every time we pass these signs and on my husband’s highway.”
On Friday, deputies gathered at the Kern Valley Substation in Lake Isabella to place their own memorial plaque for Deputy Hudnall.
Gordon Harris, of Harris Transports, Steve Smith and Jeff Campbell donated materials and volunteered their time to have the memorial placed at the substation.
Hudnall was killed in a Nov. 14, 2006 crash in the Kern Canyon. The driver of the other car, Daniel Patrick Willsey, was sentenced to six years in prison after pleading no contest to gross vehicular manslaughter while under the influence of meth.
Fuller and Roy Ashburn co-authored the bill ACR90 that made the highway renaming an official state-sanctioned event.
Comments
10 comment(s)jennifer hudnall wrote on Sep 30, 2011 12:35 PM:
It was a akazing ceremony and I cant wait to she the signs. Such a long sign lol. I love it "
Hudnall Admirer wrote on Sep 14, 2011 9:03 AM:
is PRECISELY WHY HE IS HONORED. He is honored because of him as a man and his service, not a single action. Your comments show ignorance. Review the facts of the case and have even a slight insight as to how rigid chain of custody and the forensics process is before you jump on some headline about tainted evidence. Joe provided a GREAT service to this community and your comments are entirely unnecessary and ignorant. "
Hudnall Admirer wrote on Sep 14, 2011 9:00 AM:
Do you know the facts? He was driving with a ward because he volunteered to turn around (he was on his way home already) so that another officer didn't have to transport all the way to bakersfield since he had to drive there anyway. So, if you weren't so judgemental, maybe you could look at it from another perspective....the one that his friends and supporters do. Had he not volunteered to be helpful, he would still be alive. However, that's just the kind of person that Joe was. Which, to address you other point... "
Debra Hudnall wrote on Sep 13, 2011 8:48 PM:
Debra Hudnall wrote on Jun 24, 2011 2:50 AM:
Regardless......I LOVE you, Joey. I will always love you.
Your Baby Sister says 'Goodbye'brother "
Debra Hudnall wrote on May 21, 2010 2:33 AM:
Jennifer Hudnall wrote on May 10, 2010 4:31 PM:
antebelum wrote on May 7, 2010 10:30 PM:
Curious wrote on May 6, 2010 1:47 PM:
Too Bad He Didnt Get Life wrote on May 4, 2010 11:15 PM: