State Patrol chief credited with integrating agency dies at age 92

By Brad Shannon | The Olympian • Published August 13, 2008

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Will Bachofner, whose 11-year stint as chief of the Washington State Patrol was the longest on record, died Tuesday from injuries sustained in a car wreck.

Bachofner's car went off Wiggins Road in southeast Olympia about 9:47 a.m. Monday, and it struck a sign and a tree, Olympia police spokesman Dick Machlan said. A family member said Bachofner, 92, was left paralyzed with a broken neck and hip and died about 4:20 a.m. Tuesday at Providence St. Peter Hospital.

The death caught his friends by surprise, and many were lavish in praising his work, crediting him with opening the patrol ranks to racial minorities and women and for displaying a calm hand as top state policeman during the violent protests of the turbulent 1960s.

"He is an absolute police officer pioneer," said former secretary of state Ralph Munro, who had lunch with Bachofner a few days ago. He called Bachofner "probably the finest leader the State Patrol has ever had. He took us through the tumultuous '60s — with everything from angry African-Americans storming the Governor's Office to huge union protests to rioting in the streets, and he handled it all with great caution and great care."

Munro noted that Bachofner's minority hires included present State Patrol Chief John Batiste and John Lovick, who rose to House speaker pro tem and last year was elected Snohomish County sheriff.

Bachofner retired in 1977 but also served as executive secretary of the Washington State Horse Racing Commission and chaired the Thurston County Republicans in 1978-82, the last time Olympia elected GOP lawmakers — Dick Hemstad and Bill Garson — to the Legislature.

"He's the first chief to actually integrate the patrol. He introduced women, blacks, Asians and Hispanics to the agency. He totally integrated the outfit," said Batiste, who was hired in 1976. "It obviously gave me my start, which led to me sitting in a chair in an office he once occupied."

Batiste called Bachofner a trooper's chief and credited him with raising the pay for workers.

"He mentioned that to me yesterday on his deathbed that he loved his troopers," Batiste said.

The patrol plans a public service to honor Bachofner. Details are pending.

"He had a good 92 years. We have to look at it that way," said Pat Sandberg, Bachofner's daughter, who lives on Camano Island. She said her father remained mobile and often drove where he needed to go — until his car went off an embankment Monday.

"You can't tell a retired chief he can't drive," Sandberg added.

She said Monday was a trying time for her father because he had a broken neck and hip that left him paralyzed, and he did not want to go to a nursing home.

Early years

Born in Montana as Wilfred Bachofner, he always went by the name Will, his daughter said. He grew up in Everett.

Bachofner started his career with the patrol in 1942 as a "bridge guard" and was commissioned as a trooper in 1943, working out of North Bend, according to the agency's biographical information. In January 1964, then-Gov. Albert Rosellini, a Democrat, appointed him chief, and Republican Gov. Dan Evans reappointed him in 1965 and later brought him out of retirement to serve again from 1973 to 1977.

His service with the Horse Racing Commission overlapped the closure of Longacres and the opening of Emerald Downs near Auburn, Sandberg said.