Chief Walker Honored by Marlboro's Finest

Chief Joseph Walker's coffin rested in the back of a 1928 Marlboro fire truck, draped in an American flag and guarded by his fellow firemen. 

The first Marlboro Police Chief was laid to rest at the Old Brick Reformed Church in Marlboro, but not before a salute from his fire and police brothers.

Walker, 77, died June 8 in Marlboro, after years of public service and leaving a shining mark on Marlboro Township.

The procession began in Freehold at Freeman Funeral Home and moved to Route 520, where the truck carrying Walker's body paused in front of Marlboro Fire Department. 

There, firefighters saluted their former commissioner and sounded the alarm. Traffic stopped at the School Road intersection, as onlookers witnessed the memorial of a man that began Marlboro Police Department.

Walker served first as an officer, then sergeant and eventually as the township's first chief in 1968, wearing Badge #1. Walker retured in 1995.

"He was our longest serving chief, he actually served under my fathers administration " Mayor Jon Hornik said. "I remember him as a child and he was someone I always looked up to with great respect."

According to current Chief Bruce Hall, after founding Marlboro's Police Explorer's Program and serving as president of the Monmouth County Chiefs of Police Association and the New Jersey Association of Chiefs of Police.

Walker also served in a senior advisory role to the International Association of Chief’s of Police in Washington D.C.

Walker was a life member of the Marlboro Fire Department, serving as a commissioner for more than a decade.

In 2009, when Marlboro Police Department was named after Walker, Hornik named May 16 Chief Joseph Walker Day in the township.

Please share your memories of Chief Joseph Walker below.