On the afternoon of Oct. 25, 1966, Chardon Police Chief John Bohl, founder of the Chardon Police Department, responded to a catastrophic accident on U.S. Route 6.
On the afternoon of Oct. 25, 1966, Chardon Police Chief John Bohl, founder of the Chardon Police Department, responded to a catastrophic accident on U.S. Route 6.
The crash tragically claimed six lives, including an infant and a toddler.
“It was the kind of scene that breaks a person,” said current Police Chief Scott Niehus. “Chief Bohl responded anyway. And while he was there — on duty, in service, doing what he had always done — he suffered a fatal heart attack. He was 51 years old.”
A memorial dedication honoring Bohl was held May 15 outside Chardon Police Department, which was established in 1947.
“We gather today on National Police Memorial Day — a day set aside by our nation to honor those in law enforcement who gave everything in service to their communities,” Niehus said. “It is fitting, then, that we choose this day to dedicate a permanent memorial to the man who built this department with his own hands, his own character and his own heart. This memorial, cast in black granite, is not merely a monument of stone. It is a promise. A promise that this city will never forget the man who first answered the call to serve it.”
He welcomed Bohl’s step-grandchildren, Colleen Rose of North Bloomfield, Pa., and Allan Toole of Dumfries, Va.
First and Foremost a Responder
Bohl also served the Chardon Volunteer Fire Department, where he held the rank of captain.
Niehus acknowledged Chardon Fire Chief Justin Geiss and department members.
“The patch on this monument facing your station is there because Chief Bohl belonged to you as much as he belonged to us,” Niehus said.
Bohl served with the Chardon Fire Department from Feb. 2, 1951, until his death.
“I don’t think since (then), we have had someone who was both a chief officer on the police department and an officer on the fire department, meaning lieutenant or captain or higher,” CFD Asst. Chief Larry Gaspar said.
Gaspar noted that on the day of the fatal crash, Bohl had given a safety talk to children at Chardon High School and St. Mary School.
“He built this (police) department from the ground up,” Niehus said. “In those first days, the entire force consisted of Bohl and three officers — Joseph Dorko, Louis Robusky and Walt Bookman. One patrol car. One shared mission. And one leader who set the standard for everything that would follow.
“But perhaps what defined him most was his love for the children of this community,” Niehus continued. “He did not simply tolerate the young people of Chardon, he sought them out. He visited schools. He attended hearings in juvenile court. He spent time with kids he thought might be heading in the wrong direction, not to discipline them, but to reach them. In a world where authority figures are so often feared, Chief Bohl was something rarer — he was trusted.
Bohl did not serve one institution, but the entire city, which was then a village, “from every direction, with everything he had,” Niehus said.
“It is why this memorial faces both the police station and the fire station,” he said. “He belonged to both and both belong to him.”
Strong Familial Bonds
“Now, I want to say something personal,” Niehus said, noting his father, William Niehus, served under Bohl and later became the third Chardon police chief.
“He spoke of him the way men speak of people who genuinely changed them,” Niehus said. “And today, I stand here to tell you that his legacy did not end in 1966. It continued through my father. It continues through every officer who has served in this department in the decades since. And it continues through this community, which has never forgotten him.”
Bohl’s name is inscribed on the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, D.C., on Panel 61, West 18.
A fountain was erected in his honor in Chardon’s Village Square in 1966. The original memorial plaque was recovered and attached to the front of the new granite monument, preserving continuity between the village’s first act of remembrance and the new memorial.
Niehus said each element of the monument was chosen intentionally.
On its face is an engraved portrait of Chief Bohl in full uniform, including his shoulder patch and eight-point hat.
“No matter where you stand when you look at it, it appears that he is looking directly back at you,” Niehus said. “Chief Bohl always had a way of making people feel that they had his full attention. It seems that quality has been captured in the stone, as well.”
Atop the monument sits a bronze replica of his eight-point uniform hat, cast at a foundry in Italy by Mathews Bronze and shipped to the United States specifically for the tribute.
The hat carries personal meaning for Niehus.
Years ago, he came across a photograph of Bohl wearing it and asked his father about it.
“Without a word to me, my dad had one made,” Niehus said.
Not long after, his father became seriously ill.
“From the ICU, he arranged to have it picked up and delivered to him. When he placed it in my hands, he told me that Chief Bohl would have liked that very much,” Niehus said. “I have never forgotten that moment, or what it said about the kind of man John Bohl was — that even at the end, my father’s thoughts turned to him.”
He added, “Chief Bohl touched many lives in this community, as a police officer, a fire captain, a mentor and a friend. Bohl spent his life showing up for this city — in good times and in difficult ones, in the everyday moments and in extraordinary ones. Today, we showed up for him.”
Niehus thanked Mayor Chris Grau and others who helped bring the project to fruition.
“From a conversation in 2014 to a dedication in 2026 — 12 years, countless hours and the generous contributions of an entire community,” Niehus said. “That is what Chief John R. Bohl deserved. And that is what Chardon delivered. Today, a memory is no longer all we have. We have this monument. We have this day. And we have one another. That is what Chief Bohl would have wanted.”
