What is Your Passion
“It is a beautiful thing when a career and a passion come together.”
We all have things we are passionate about that offer joy and excitement to life. It could be a hobby, or an activity to participate in daily. This passion may be a project one takes on intensely for a period of time before moving on to something different. It doesn’t much matter what it is or how often we engage in it. The common thread is that it is something that stimulates positive feelings. A passion sometimes occurs outside one’s job but is often tied to a career. This month’s Harper Unsung Hero, Victor Pierce, has enjoyed a passion for his job as a police officer for forty-plus years. It is one of the things that keeps him in the game after more than four decades in a career that is dominated by individuals half his age.
Victor talks about his early family life. “I was born in Kalamazoo in 1958. My brother Marc was born three years after me. My mom, Setsuko (Mona) worked at home making curtains for different businesses, and my dad, Rolland worked at Checker Motors, home of the original Yellow Taxi Cab, in Kalamazoo, as an engineer.” Victor’s parents met while his father was serving our country overseas. “Mom and Dad became acquainted when Dad was stationed in Japan with the military. They were married in Sendai, Japan at the US Military Base with an Army Chaplain officiating the wedding. Dad returned home with Mom after his tour of duty. Dad spent twenty-eight years as a military recruiter for the Army Reserves. He passed away in 1992. Mom is still alive at the age of ninety-seven.”
Victor and his brother spent their entire childhood in Kalamazoo, attending Winchell Elementary School, moving on to Oakwood Junior High, and then from there going to Loy Norrix High School, where Victor graduated in 1976. Victor reflects on some of his fondest childhood memories. “We enjoyed family vacations exploring the outdoors, pulling a camper on our travels throughout the USA.” Victor also enjoyed participating in athletics and being involved in music as a child. “Both my brother and I played baseball in Little League and on through high school. I also played high school football. During my elementary, junior high, and high school years, I played musical instruments. As a member of the concert band, I played the B flat clarinet and contra-alto clarinet. I played baritone saxophone in jazz band, was a bass drummer, and played cymbals, for the Western Michigan University (WMU) marching band. In high school and also during my years at WMU, I was in the choir. During my senior year at Loy Norrix, I was the drum major in the marching band.”
As much as Victor enjoyed athletics and music growing up, he had a bigger passion. Victor goes into detail about this. “I participated in scouts starting as a Cub Scout, transitioning to Boy Scouts, and moving on to an Eagle Scout. Scouting was a great time during my childhood. I learned so much about life and how to have fun in nature.” Victor reflects on a few of the major pilgrimages he participated in during his years as a scout. “I went on a canoe trip up in Ely Minnesota. We learned how to canoe and portage. I also went to a high wilderness adventure camp in Philmont, New Mexico. We earned merit badges for survival skills including tying knots, skills based on life-saving, and knowledge about our world. Scouting required a lot of hard work and effort but it was worth it with the fond memories it created.”
Sports, music, and scouting dominated much of Victor’s roadmap as a child, teaching him lessons that still guide his decision-making today. Victor talks about what in his life influenced all of these things. “I participated in an organization called Youth for Christ in high school. This is an outreach ministry that deals with having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.” Victor’s faith is something that defined his life as a teenager and remains strong still today. His example shows us that serving a higher being doesn’t just occur from the pulpit. After high school, he spent a decade volunteering as a counselor for Youth for Christ. The experience he gained from this has no doubt helped him through the years of his career in public safety.
To hear Victor talk about his experiences as a police officer it would seem that this is what he envisioned as part of his future as a child, but this epiphany did not come to him until a few years after high school. Victor reflects on the transition after graduating from Loy Norix. “I enrolled at WMU out of high school but really didn’t know what career path I wanted to follow. I loved music and thought this might be an option but didn’t have a vision of how this might fit into a career choice. After two years at WMU, I quit school.” Victor quickly found a job working as a security officer for Bronson Hospital in Kalamazoo. It was this job that set him on a course that would determine his future career as a police officer.
Victor spent many hours helping out in the area surrounding the ER in his work as a security officer. He would see police officers coming in and dealing with situations in the ER that required their attention. “This intrigued me,” Victor explains. “I had several conversations with these police officers, and began to think that I might want to become a police officer, but there was more that would spark this interest. During my time at Youth for Christ, there was a Portage police officer who was also a volunteer counselor. One evening he spoke at a rally and told his story about being a Portage police officer. I was awestruck and was thinking that this was my calling.”
Victor describes one defining moment that sealed the deal for him and his future in law enforcement. “I went to work one day and a co-worker was filling out a job application to be a police officer. I was excited about this and thought that I wanted to do the same. My co-worker told me that I didn’t have what it took to be a police officer.” This was the fork in the road for Victor. Instead of letting his co-worker's comments discourage him he used it as motivation. Victor gives details about what steps he would take next. “I applied to Kalamazoo Valley Community College (KVCC) for law enforcement. This was a two-year program. At the same time, the weekend supervisor position came open at Bronson so I applied for this job and was offered the position. This was perfect because I could work on the weekends and go to school during the week.”
As ideal as circumstances seemed for Victor in going to school during the week at KVCC and working each weekend at Bronson an even more desirable opportunity would come his way. Victor explains another decision that he would have to make. “Some officers from Battle Creek Police Department came to one of our classes to give a recruiting pitch.” Victor had spent some time outside of Kalamazoo through scouting and with the camping trips he and his family went on during his childhood, but moving to Battle Creek would require him to step outside of his comfort zone. “Not long after the recruiting pitch Battle Creek Police notified KVCC’s Law Enforcement Director that they were extremely interested in me coming to work for them. I was excited about their interest in me and decided to quit classes at KVCC and pursue a career with Battle Creek Police. I was sent to Lake Michigan College Police Academy by Battle Creek Public Police Department. They even paid for my training.”
After thirteen weeks of training through the Police Academy, Victor began his career in law enforcement. “I started with Battle Creek Police Department on January 2nd, 1980,” Victor explains. “During my years with Battle Creek, I worked in many positions, including patrol operations, the mobile crime lab, and community services. I was promoted to the rank of detective in 1996. Other job responsibilities included working undercover for special investigations. I also worked in the training division as a firearms and defensive tactics instructor. I served on the emergency response team for fourteen years. In 1998 I was promoted to the rank of Sergeant. Part of my duties as Sergeant included supervising the training division for a period of time and later supervising the forensic crime lab.” During his time with Battle Creek Police Department, Victor also served as a School Safety Officer for the elementary schools of Battle Creek Public Schools and as a crime prevention officer.
Victor retired from Battle Creek Police Department in 2010, going to work for Barry Township Police Department as Chief of Police. He continued with Barry Township for four years before returning to Battle Creek. Victor talks about his return to the Cereal City. “I left Barry Township and returned to Battle Creek in 2014 as a public safety officer for Emmett Township. Public safety deals with three assignments including police, fire, and medical first responder (MFR). This transition required Victor to attend academies for fire and MFR to receive certification in these areas”
After working for Emmett Township for four years the opportunity to join forces with Harper Creek Schools presented itself. “In 2019 Harper Creek had an open position for a resource officer,” Victor explains. “My experience as a counselor, working with youth, and working with community service made me want to work in a school setting.” Victor reflects on the importance of resource officers working in our schools. “Kids need to see that police officers are good people. They need heroes. I feel that we need to have that rapport with kids. Making a difference in the lives of kids is my goal.”
Victor has enjoyed working in the law enforcement arena for more than forty years. He has no long-term goals of how long he will continue but also has no plans of retiring any time soon. Victor discusses his future in law enforcement. “I feel that I have a lot of fuel left in my tank. At the age of sixty-six, I am still physically and emotionally equipped to handle this job. Being a police officer can be tough emotionally but I still try to keep a warm heart. I understand why some officers are ready to retire and get out of it, but I feel that the good Lord is telling me that I still need to do this. I have kind of a target goal to continue until the age of seventy but my game plan is to take it one year at a time” Victor continues to do the necessary work to stay in shape for the job. “I work out regularly to stay and shape. I go to the gym. I also play basketball. I run and lift weights. Diet and nutrition is also a key.”
Working in the trenches for more than four decades has provided memories. Some of these experiences have been scary but thrilling. They have blessed him with fulfillment. Victor reflects on one of these stories that has defined his career. “Early in my career, I was called to a scene where a young man was on a bridge ready to jump. He was in a dark place in his life and didn’t see a way out. I tried to talk him down but felt like I wasn’t getting through to him.” Victor was doing his best but struggling to resolve the situation. Fortunately, help soon arrived. “When I arrived I called in for backup. My Sergeant eventually arrived on the scene and helped me to get the subject down from the bridge. We put him in protective custody and I transported him to the hospital for treatment. I told him that although he might not understand now, the Good Lord had a purpose for him.” Victor had saved this young man’s life and it seemed both would go on with their lives without crossing paths again but divine intervention would provide a chance meeting a few decades later. “Flash forward almost thirty years later I was reunited with this individual when I was called to a local church about a possible stolen car. When I was checking the vehicle status the pastor was there. I didn’t recognize him but he remembered me. He said to me,” “I’ve waited twenty-eight years to give you a hug and thank you. You saved my life and now I am a pastor.” The experience was unbelievable”
As a police officer, Victor has been thrust into some situations deemed dangerous or life-threatening. He goes into detail about one of these situations. “Back in 1981, there was an incident in which I was involved in a high-speed chase with a seventeen-year-old male who had stolen a car. I gave pursuit and called it in. He was running people off the road. Other police units eventually caught up with me. I was able to pull beside him. He slammed his car into my patrol unit. I left the roadway at seventy MPH. I saw a row of trees and thought I was going to die. I sideswiped the trees and felt that God stepped in to save my life.”
Victor describes another incident. “Back in the early nineties while investigating a domestic violence incident involving someone who was wanted with a warrant. I was struck in the head with a statue that was thrown by the suspect. I was able to take him into custody and another officer who responded to the incident transported him to jail while I was taken to the hospital by ambulance where I received six stitches for my head injury.”
Along with his job duties working on patrol with fire, safety, and police, Victor has enjoyed other areas of employment. He describes some of these. “Since 1993, I have been an adjunct instructor for Kellogg Community College, teaching for the Police Academy. During the high school spring athletic season, I work as a baseball umpire for MHSAA.”
As much as Victor loves his job, there are many things that he enjoys outside of work that occupy his time. He and his wife Sandi have been married for more than twenty-five years. They have three adult children, Tyler, Courtney, and Victoria. He also has interests not necessarily related to his career. He goes into detail about one of these pastimes. “I have been a Superman fan since I was a kid. I have collected Superman memorabilia for years including Superman comics from the 1940s.” Victor has also enjoyed collecting and tinkering with classic cars through the years. He spends his free time creating YouTube videos as well. The passion that he has for his job and the concept that each day brings with it something new and fresh help to make work rewarding for Victor, but his hobbies outside of law enforcement have provided a needed balance.
Victor feels fortunate for the experiences that his career has brought him. He reflects on what it has meant to him. “I am a blessed man. I have worked with some of our community’s bravest, and finest officers. It has been awesome to see generations of officers come and go. My job has put me in touch with others who have had a positive impact on my life. I have also had the privilege to be able to work with my brother Marc through part of my career who was a Battle Creek Police officer.”
As one might imagine, there are many somber moments that come with being a member of the law enforcement community. Victor reflects on this aspect of his career. “There have been some sad moments including losing a phenomenal co-worker, Lavern Brann, who was shot while on duty. I have also been a part of the Honor Guard for Battle Creek Police Department, Barry Township Police Department, and Emmett Township Public Safety. As a part of the honor guard, I have represented these three departments and attended funerals for well over one hundred fallen officers. These moments are very moving. It is a way to show our appreciation to the officers and their families and the brotherhood that exists in our line of work”
These experiences have taught Victor some valuable life lessons and given him a great outlook on life. “I try to make the best of the circumstances that I have been given. Life sometimes hits you hard but you have to get back up. I have made my share of mistakes but overall I’m glad where I’m at in my life.”
Any career comes with times of satisfaction and moments of frustration. If one is able to weather the storm created by these setbacks, contentment, and satisfaction can create a feeling of fulfillment. If one is as lucky as Victor a passion for going to work day in and day out will exist.