CHIEF WESLEY S. SHARP
BADGE 130
SDPD 05/16/1931 - 01/03/1968
09/02/1899 - 11/03/1991
Evening Tribune (San Diego, CA) - December 4, 1991
Deceased Name: Wesley Sharp, ex-police chief, dies at age 93
Wesley S. Sharp, who served as San Diego's 24th police chief from 1962 to 1968, died yesterday of congestive heart failure at Sharp Knollwood Convalescent Hospital. He was 93.
Sharp's career with the Police Department spanned 36 years. Following his retirement, he kept in touch with department administrators and was host to them at frequent pizza parties.
He was born in Los Angeles and came to San Diego with his family as an infant. At San Diego High School where he graduated, he played baseball well enough to be considered a prospect as a professional. After service in the Army during World War I, he worked for Standard Oil Co. for 13 years before joining the Police Department in 1931.
He recalled many years later in an interview that his training was limited. "We lined up and a sergeant told me to walk a beat and gave me a number," he said in 1966. "I had been issued a badge, a gun and a call-box key. We marched uptown, and older policemen told me where the call boxes were and what the beat boundaries were. That's all the training I had."
Sharp worked his way up through the department, holding ranks in the detective bureau as sergeant, lieutenant and captain. He was appointed deputy police chief in 1947.
He is survived by his wife, Julia; a daughter, Norma Steck; a son, Staneley, both of San Diego; three stepdaughters; four grandchildren, and 10 great-grandchildren.
A memorial service will be at 10 a.m. Monday at St. Mary Magdalene Roman Catholic Church. Private interment will be Dec. 16 in Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery.
The family suggests contributions to the San Diego Police Officers Association's fund for widows and children of officers killed in the line of duty.
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