Former Farmersville Chief of Police with Wyndi Viegel-Gaudette, former news editor for The Farmersville Times.

One of the toughest parts about growing older is dealing with unexpected losses. This week, I lost a great friend, mentor and phenomenal human, the former police chief in Farmersville, Mike Sullivan.

I didn’t really know ‘adam’ about police work when I first became a cub reporter, and Chief Sullivan was used to the big city of Desoto and the media that went with it. Our first real encounter was over me covering a pack of beer stolen from a small town grocery store – an item that wouldn’t make most large town media’s radar, much less to publication. But it did in Farmersville, and he may have realized we were definitely small town at that point.

I learned and he learned that we could both trust each other, especially when I became part of the Citizens on Patrol program and the photographer for the Farmersville Volunteer Fire Department.

Chief Sullivan was someone you wanted on your side, but he was also fun, scary intelligent and handled the media like it wasn’t anything to be weary of. One memory that springs to mind is when a firetruck went through our Dairy Queen. When a firetruck’s rear sticks out of Texas Stop Sign, it attracts major media attention even from Dallas TV stations. He was extremely calm, cool and collected – providing info while keeping everyone safe and handling incoming calls.

He also had a dry, sarcastic sense of humor and as my passion for emergency services developed, he encouraged me to go for the master’s in Homeland Security that I was dreaming of to move into emergency services. Chief Sullivan was a huge proponent of education and he wasn’t afraid to tuck a journalist into a police car on most weekends in order to see what law enforcement was really about. He also wrote me a glowing recommendation to get into the program.

He was also the person who (along with the officer I rode with) encouraged me to talk to someone after a traumatic event occurred that I simply couldn’t get past. And who told me there was no shame in seeking help with PTSD.

As I moved away to Marshall and then Dublin, we didn’t talk as much as we should have, but he was still someone I would call or text when I had police questions or just needed advice. I’m so grateful now that I took the time to see him last year when I went back to Farmersville.

If there is one thing I’ve learned from this week it’s not to take people for granted. Take time to spend with those who mean something to you, talk to them and make sure they know how you feel. Thank you for taking the time to help a journalist learn about real police. You will be missed, Chief.

By Wyndi Viegel-Gaudette

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