John E. Jordan, a Toledo police officer motivated by service and public safety in a career that spanned four decades, died Saturday in Otterbein Sunset House. He was 88.

He had dementia and heart problems and, most recently, suffered a mild stroke, said his son Jim.

Mr. Jordan was appointed to the police force Oct. 1, 1958, and retired March 17, 1989, according to a Toledo police post in tribute on social media.

He walked a beat to start and later was assigned a patrol wagon. He worked for several years in the city jail on the Safety Building’s upper floors, and for more than a decade he was assigned to the communications bureau.

In that era before 911 and computers, he was among the officers who answered calls for help from citizens. He quickly wrote the relevant facts on a card, which then was relayed to a dispatcher who radioed crews with the information.

At times, officers heard Mr. Jordan’s voice sending them to a call for service.

“He was a big burly guy with a big deep voice,” son Jim said. “He was loud enough and distinguished enough to know he meant business.”

He had the gift of communication, son John said.

“He enjoyed serving the community,” John Jordan, Jr. said. “He was caring and was able to do what he needed to for people in need.”

He got to know the business owners on his beat and those at the high school ball games and on the construction sites where he worked off-duty security details.

“He approached things in a calm way when people weren’t calm,” son Jim said. “He had a knack for controlling the room, controlling the scene.”

Mr. Jordan was a member of the Toledo Police Fraternal Order of Police Lodge, where picnics for police officers and their families were summer traditions.

“He took the most pride in the relationships he formed,” son Jim said. “We hear about it these days, about officers supporting each other. Back then, I don’t know that it was publicized, where you supported your men in blue.”

He also was proud of his grandson Benjamin Jordan, in his fifth year of service as a Toledo police officer.

“He would always want to know the details — what section of the city he was working and what shift,” said son John, who is Officer Jordan’s father.

Born May 21, 1933, to Ruby and Arthur Jordan, he grew up in West Toledo and was a 1952 graduate of DeVilbiss High School, where he played baseball, football, and basketball, and wrestled. He later played federation baseball.

He had a pilot’s license and for years flew small planes from airports in northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan. He and his wife, Marion, spent winters in the Fort Myers, Fla., area with other Toledo police retirees.

“He loved to travel and camp and taught me how to read a map,” son Jim said.

A Navy veteran, he met Marion Putnam while stationed in Boston. The couple married May 4, 1957, and Mrs. Jordan died Aug. 21, 2013.

A parishioner of the former St. Agnes Church, he was a current member of St. Catherine of Siena Church.

Surviving are his daughters, Nancy Klever, Barb Kesselmayer, and Joan Jolly; sons, John, Jr., and Jim Jordan; 16 grandchildren, and nine great-grandchildren.

Visitation will be from 2-8 p.m. Friday in the Ansberg-West Funeral Home, with a Final Salute service at 7:30 p.m. A funeral Mass will begin at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at St. Catherine Church, with visitation after 9:30 a.m. 

The family suggests tributes to Otterbein Sunset House;  the Marion F. Jordan, RN, Scholarship at Lourdes University, Sylvania, or the Toledo Police Museum.

First Published July 9, 2021, 4:00 a.m.