JACKSON – He may have died more than 20 years ago, but Robert “Robbie” Ventura’s legacy continues to live on.
Family, friends, his brothers and sisters in blue and many others came out to remember him during a street naming ceremony. The highway sign bearing his name was unveiled and several presentations were made to his widow, his daughter and son during the morning event held near the Jackson Township Justice Complex on West Veterans Highway.
Kevin Chesney, a 30-year veteran of the township police department served as Ventura’s training officer. He told The Jackson Times, “I was his field training officer but I knew him beforehand with the fire department and we hung out. I was happy when he decided to become a cop and he fit right in.”
Chesney described Ventura saying, “he was definitely a people pleaser, he was wanted to make people happy and do things right. He was one of those people who you had to ask if he was mad. If I’m mad you know it but Robbie was kind of laid back and subdued and his kids were young at the time but we have always made his family, our family. Robbie’s legacy is still going to live on here and that is the important thing now because there is not many us left who worked with Robbie and were around when Robbie passed.”
The officer’s death on March 18, 2001 was a subject that brought tears to the eyes of former Police Officer Andrew Cheney who was one of five speakers during the ceremony. “I was a police sergeant the night that he was killed. We always would joke around. After the briefing, Robbie being the junior guy, he loaded up his car and made the coffee run.”
“I was on the phone with a resident and Robbie had delivered my coffee and he was pacing as if he wanted to tell me something or ask me something and he said ‘I’ll stop back’ and he leaves. Five minutes later we get a first aid call of an infant in respiratory distress in zone II which is on the other side of town. Robbie being Robbie and the personality he is, and a dad of small children, he heads to West Veterans Highway and heads out to help out if needed,” Cheney added.
“Not a minute after that the calls start coming in about a crash, West Veterans and Walter Drive, two vehicles and one possibly being a police car at which point I start sending everybody there and calling badges on the radio and they respond and he is the only one not responding to the radio that night,” he said.
“We took care of what we had to that night. The family was contacted. The day of Robbie’s funeral I made sure I was the last uniformed officer to see him. I approached the casket and gave him the final salute and I told him, Jackson Township will never forget you or his family,” Cheney said.
“It is being carried on by the young guys (of the police department),” Chesney told The Jackson Times. “I’m on my 30th year, (Investigations Unit Detective) Joe Pante started this (street dedication project). I helped him out as much as I can. The younger generation is going to take this and carry it. They do it with the Unity Tour and we will have this out here and it will keep Robbie close to us.”
Jennifer Ventura shared memories of her late husband with The Jackson Times before the ceremony began stating her husband who served with the Jackson Township Police for two years prior to his death and was also a “member of the volunteer fire department. It was his dream to become a police officer and there was an opportunity to pursue it. He grew up in Jackson. I moved to Jackson around 1992.”
“I have a daughter Ashley and son Dillon. They were very young at the time. Ashley was 4 and Dillon was like 18 months. He liked the community and being a part of things,” Jennifer said.
Ashley Ventura, who is now a police officer herself serving in West Windsor, remembered being told “I was daddy’s little girl. I know he was super funny. He was the comedy guy, always telling jokes and I love hearing stories from the guys (his fellow police officers) that he was good at making people laugh.”
While the family no longer lives in Jackson, their ties to those in the Jackson Police Department will never end. “When my dad died all these guys just stepped in. They showed up at my prom with a whole parade of police officers and fire trucks and they escorted me to the prom and that is why I decided to join the force. No one is ever left behind. It is truly an extended family and is still going on,” she said.
“It is such a remarkable thing and so very special,” Ashley Ventura added.
Also noted was the presence of a K9 unit dog. “The first K9 dog we’ve had in a while is named Robbie,” Chesney said.
Chief Matthew Kunz said, “There is a native American proverb that tells us we will be known forever by the tracks we leave. My heart is full as this alliance of friends before me – our law enforcement and extended family – has indeed not forgotten our brother Robbie. Through our memory, acts of remembrance (such as) this roadside memorial, his tracks shall forever remain impressed upon the people of Jackson Township.”
Public Safety Director Joseph Candido said, “I was a new officer when Robbie was here. I think I was on for maybe six months and we shared the same car and that night I handed him the keys. What impressed me about Robbie when I met him a few years earlier at the firehouse at a Christmas event was that he wanted to be a police officer. He always wanted to be there for everybody and I got that in a half hour conversation.”
“That tradition hangs on with the men and women of our police agency,” Candido added. “He’s instilled that and it will always be here forever.”
Mayor Michael Reina presented the gift of a street sign to the family prior to the unveiling of the actual street sign. “It is something we thought you would appreciate.”
Jennifer Ventura also received a police remembrance pin from Jackson Police Chaplain Dan Schafer during the ceremony.
Detective Joseph Pante, who coordinated the project that began several years ago, thanked everyone involved in the process of getting the street name approved as well as the signs made and installed. He acknowledged “the Ventura family for their input and helping design the signs so we got it right as well as their patience through the process.”
“This is a wonderful memorial to my husband we really appreciate everything you have all done for us today,” Jennifer Ventura said.
