FAREWELL, DEPUTY BAIN REMEMBERED FOR HUMOR, SPIRIT.Byline: Charles F. Bostwick Staff Writer LANCASTER - More than 1,000 law enforcement officers, family, friends and civic leaders paid their final respects to Lancaster motorcycle Deputy Pierre Bain, killed Thursday in a crash. Bain, a 15-year Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department This article is about the Los Angeles County Sherriff's Department, not to be confused with the smaller Los Angeles County Police The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (LASD) is a local law enforcement agency that serves Los Angeles County, California. veteran who died two days before his 46th birthday, was riding after a speeder when another vehicle pulled in front of his motorcycle at an east Lancaster intersection. ``He loved his family, he loved his job. Pierre enjoyed his life fiercely and he left his life doing what he loved,'' friend Joe Gray said. Law enforcement officers came from more than 15 agencies from around Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, and as far away as Nevada for Wednesday's funeral. Deputies from elsewhere in Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. County filled in at the Lancaster and Palmdale sheriff's stations so that Bain's co-workers could attend. More than 100 motorcycle officers plus patrol cars, fire trucks and ambulances drove through Lancaster in a miles-long procession from the Lancaster sheriff's station to Lancaster Baptist Church. At the funeral, Bain's wife, Diana, was accompanied by family including his parents, Orville and Germaine, his brother Kirk, and his three daughters from a previous marriage: Chantal, 20; Kristina, 18, and Alicia, 16. Chantal is home on leave from the U.S. Army after serving in Iraq. Before the service, giant screens on each side of the sanctuary showed family photos: Bain as a young man bathing and feeding his three daughters when they were babies, fishing and hunting, at his wedding to Diana 3 1/2 years ago. After graduating from Los Angeles Baptist High School Los Angeles Baptist High School is a Christian, independent, coeducational day school located in Sepulveda, California with approximately 962 students enrolled in grades 7 through 12. , Bain worked in his father's machine shop and thought about becoming a forest ranger forest ranger n. An officer in charge of protecting or managing a section of a public forest. before joining the the Sheriff's Department. A motorcycle deputy in Lancaster since 2003, Bain was known for his Fu Manchu mustache Fu Man·chu mustache n. A mustache with ends that hang downward toward or below the chin. [After Fu Manchu and for a good-natured, outgoing personality that let him win over even motorists he stopped to ticket, his friends said. Lancaster motorcycle deputy Mike Berk told about spotting Bain and an elderly motorist Bain had pulled over for speeding, both with their heads under the hood under the hood - [hot-rodder talk] 1. The underlying implementation of a product (hardware, software, or idea). Implies that the implementation is not intuitively obvious from the appearance, but the speaker is about to enable the listener to grok it. of the motorist's vehicle. The motorist was explaining diesel engine maintenance to Bain, who had just bought a diesel van. ``I watched ... the man thank Pierre for the ticket and thank him for listening to him,'' Berk said. Said fellow motorcycle officer Jon White: ``Pierre loved being a cop and most of all he loved being a motor.'' The Lancaster motorcycle deputies called Bain ``Pepe,'' both for his fondness for hot sauce and because of the French cartoon skunk skunk, name for several related New World mammals of the weasel family, characterized by their conspicuous black and white markings and use of a strong, highly offensive odor for defense. Pepe Le Pew, Berk said. They also called him ``Mr. 723,'' the sheriff's department code for giving a warning. ``Pierre couldn't always find it in his heart to give a citation,'' White explained. Lt. Steve Fredericks said he once caught Bain wearing a helmet decorated with a silhouette of a dirt biker, then another time spotted him wearing a skullcap skull·cap n. See calvaria. skullcap, n Latin names: Scutellaria laterifolia, Scutellaria baicalensis; under his helmet, with the skullcap tails hanging out the back. ``Pierre was a free spirit in a career not particularly designed to accommodate free spirits,'' Lancaster sheriff's station commander Capt. Carl Deeley said. ``His greatest weapon was his sense of humor Noun 1. sense of humor - the trait of appreciating (and being able to express) the humorous; "she didn't appreciate my humor"; "you can't survive in the army without a sense of humor" sense of humour, humor, humour .'' Speakers at the service included California Attorney General The California Attorney General is the State Attorney General of the government of the state of California in the USA. The officer's duty is to ensure that "the laws of the state are uniformly and adequately enforced" (California Constitution, Article V, Section 13. Bill Lockyer William Westwood "Bill" Lockyer (born May 8, 1941) is the current State Treasurer of California. Prior to this, he served as California's Attorney General and head of the Department of Justice for the U.S. state of California. and Sheriff Lee Baca Leroy David Baca (b. May 27 1942, East Los Angeles, California) is the Sheriff of Los Angeles County, California. After graduating from Benjamin Franklin High School (Los Angeles) in 1960, Baca worked his way through East Los Angeles College before starting with the L.A. . ``I honor those like him who chose a law enforcement career, understanding he's given up his todays so we could have safer tomorrows,'' said Lockyer. ``There's no higher sacrifice in life than to give your life in the service of others,'' Baca said. Charles F. Bostwick, (661) 267-5742 chuck.bostwick(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): 7 photos Photo: (1 -- color -- ran in AV edition only) Motorcycle Deputy John White speaks at the funeral of Lancaster motorcycle Deputy Pierre Bain, killed March 23. (2 -- color -- ran in AV edition only) Pallbearers, flanked by saluting law enforcement officers, carry the casket of Deputy Pierre Bain onto the grounds of Lancaster Baptist Church. (3 -- ran in AV and SAC editions only) Deputy Pierre Bain was known for his distinctive mustache and that ``his greatest weapon was his sense of humor.'' (4 -- color in SAC edition only -- ran in AV and SAC editions only) More than 100 motorcycle officers plus patrol cars, fire trucks and ambulances drove through Lancaster in a miles-long procession. (5 -- color in SAC edition only -- ran in AV and SAC editions only) Sheriff Lee Baca comforts the family of Deputy Pierre Bain. Bain's wife, Diana, stands between Baca and one of Bain's daughters. (6 -- ran in AV edition only) One of Pierre Bain's friends plays the bag pipes as the pallbearers carry the casket on their way out of the church. (7 -- ran in AV edition only) Mike Burk weeps as he and Lt. Steve Fredericks wait to speak at the funeral of friend and co-worker Pierre Bain. Jeff Goldwater/Staff Photographer |
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