City dedicates highway to late assistant chief; friends remember his humor

A bevy of Cape Girardeau law-enforcement leaders spoke Wednesday at the Roger W. Fields Memorial Highway dedication, but instead of talking about Fields as a lawman, they spoke of him as a lovable person.

“If you knew Roger, he made a special impact on your life,” Jackson Police Department Capt. Scott Eakers said.

Wednesday marked the two-year anniversary of Fields’ death from a complex medical issue; he was 50. He had worked with the Cape Girardeau Police Department since 1988.

Since March 2014, his wife, Marsha, has worked to get a piece of Kingshighway dedicated to Fields. Kingshighway from Bloomfield Road to Interstate 55 now will be known as the Assistant Chief of CGPD Roger W. Fields Memorial Highway.

“I’m proud he’s being honored this way,” Marsha Fields, said. “People are going to drive up and down this highway the next 20 years and remember what an important part of the community he was.”

Roger Fields

Cape Girardeau police chief Wes Blair talked about how Fields invited him over for a barbecue when Blair began as chief two years ago.

“He would go out of his way to make sure my family was comfortable,” Blair said.

Seniors and Law Enforcement Together recorder Doug Austin talked about Blair and Fields’ fishing excursion after Blair accepted the job. At one point, Blair ended up in the Diversion Channel when Fields “accidentally” steered the boat when Blair stood up.

“He was a world-class salesman,” Austin said. “He sold Wes on the idea that was an accident.”

Each speaker talked about Fields’ love of jokes and how he was a colorful storyteller.

Kyle, left, Marsha and Blake Fields share a laugh Wednesday with Sharon Shaver during the Roger W. Fields Memorial Highway dedication at the Cape Girardeau Conservation Nature Center.Glenn Landberg

“We always looked forward to Roger going on vacation because he’d come back with amazing stories,” Cape Girardeau assistant chief Jack Wimp said. “We knew they were true because he told us they were true.”

Frank Nickell, who taught Fields at Southeast Missouri State University, said everyone who knew Fields had a favorite story. Nickell’s favorite, recounted in former Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle’s book “Scoundrels to the Hoosegow,” was when Fields was chasing a man wanted in another county. He knew he could not catch the fleeing suspect on foot, and he told the man he would shoot him, knowing full well he was not going to fire his gun.

Losing ground fast, Fields shouted “bang” as loud as he could, and the suspect dropped to the ground.

“Where were you hit?” Fields asked the suspect.

Jackson police chief James Humphreys and Cape Girardeau County Sheriff John Jordan spoke of Fields with the reverence of lifelong friends. A picture of the three men together in uniform still hangs in Fields’ home, Marsha Fields said. Jordan said his family and the Fieldses often spent time together, his son falling victim to a Roger Fields practical joke when he was wrapped head to toe in cellophane.

“If you were going to do something around the Fields house, somebody would get you back,” Jordan said.

When Humphreys, Jordan and Fields all were acting heads of their departments, Jordan said Fields would boast they had taken over Cape Girardeau County, and tomorrow they were taking over the world. Jordan said Fields even made a similar comment in a job interview.

“He didn’t care how serious the moment was; he would get a joke in,” Jordan said.

Jordan said Fields had a compassion that matched his toughness.

“He was an example of how a cop has to be tough as nails to get things done, but compassionate enough to cry when there was a tragedy in the community,” Jordan said.

Fields’ mother, Bonnie, said he would have been in awe of the ceremony.

“We’re so proud of him and the community for remembering him,” she said.

Humphreys said the ceremony was what Fields would have wanted.

“Roger would have wanted it like that — appreciated and remembered, rather than loss and sorrow,” he said.

bkleine@semissourian.com

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