MOTORCYCLE OFFICER JOSEPH GRAYSON

BADGE 280

SDPD 11/19/1945 - 02/03/1972

01/12/1915 - 04/19/1995

THE THIN BLUE LINE

San Diego Union-Tribune, The (CA) - April 22, 1995

Deceased Name: Joseph F. Grayson; retired police officer, entertainer 

In senior circles, Joseph F. Grayson was known as "Joe, The Music Man," a retired San Diego police officer who didn't miss a beat.  Mr. Grayson, whose piano and organ playing entertained groups throughout San Diego over the years, died of liver cancer Tuesday at Scripps Memorial Hospital-La Jolla.  He was 80.

For the last seven years, Mr. Grayson volunteered his talents as a pianist at the Clairemont Friendship Senior Center. He also accompanied the Emerald Singers at the University City Clubhouse near his home.

In the 1950s, Mr. Grayson formed a band called the Harbor Lighters with four other men: a lawyer, a milkman, a teacher and a gas station owner.

The quintet played music from the Big Band Era at gatherings of social, fraternal and professional organizations throughout San Diego.

Mr. Grayson moved to San Diego from his native New York in 1944 and joined the San Diego Police Department in 1945, retiring in 1972 as a motorcycle patrolman.

He worked in all phases of law enforcement. And he was one of the first officers in the SDPD to be trained in lifesaving techniques -- a skill he put to use as an ambulance driver, behind the wheel of a converted black station wagon.

As a pioneering paramedic, Mr. Grayson delivered babies and treated persons injuried in traffic accidents.

He attended City College of New York for two years before settling in San Diego.

Mr. Grayson is survived by his wife, Martha; four daughters, Judy Westpheling, of Springfield, Mo., Barbara Bell, of Spring Valley, Susan Smith, of Orinda, and Marilyn Malmquist, of Vista; nine grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.

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