Dayton FOP Lodge No. 44
Fraternal Order of Police Capt. John C. Post Lodge No. 44
The beginning of Dayton FOP Lodge No. 44 was during the later stages of the Great Depression of the 20th Century. It was chartered by the Grand Lodge on March 2, 1938 and then the State Lodge of Ohio on January 17, 1939. Dayton is Ohio’s 44th and the Nation’s 111th chartered Fraternal Order of Police lodge.
It was named after Captain John C. Post, a popular officer who was killed in the line of duty a little more than a decade earlier on September 24, 1927. Captain Post had been a peer-elected member of the Dayton Police Benevolent Association that oversaw the local pensions of Dayton police officers. Captain Post was killed in the following incident:
“Captain Post and two other officers were attempting to apprehend a suspect who had shot another individual after an argument over a crap game. The officers ascended the stairway in a boarding house on Franklin Street where the suspect was believed to be hiding. They were met with gunfire. All three officers were wounded but Captain Post was gravely hurt and died of his wounds the following day. The officers had been able to return fire and they shot the suspect. He was later tried and convicted of Capt. Post’s murder but after the trial but before he could serve his sentence, the suspect died of his wounds. At the time of his death, Captain Post had been with the agency for 24 years.”
Since its charter inception with the Ohio and National FOP, the Lodge has been guided by 29 Presidents over the course of 86 years, beginning with Joseph Wells in 1938. Five (5) Presidents served two one-year terms and six (6) Presidents served single one-year terms in the formative years from 1938 to 1954. Thereafter, terms of office were established at two years.
Two presidents resigned from the police force before their terms as president expired: Melvin Fourman in 1943 and John Finley in 1966. Police officers resigning from the Divsion of Police was not out of the ordinary in early years. Pay was low and better opportunities could be found in the many factories in Dayton.
Sadly, three (3) Lodge 44 Presidents died before the conclusion of their police careers: Harry Fowler in 1954, Robert Swartz in 1971 and Guy Rohrer in 1988. All three had more than 25 years police service. Only Fowler was a sitting Lodge President at the time of his death. He was succeeded by George Szakal. Two (2) Lodge 44 Presidents completed less than one two-year term in office: John Finley (resignation) and Russ Guerra (retirement).
Ten (10) Lodge 44 Presidents served more than one two-year term and of those, three (3) served more than two terms: Ron Brandenburg (3½), Tom Bennett (6) and Randy Beane (4½). Ron Brandenburg and Tom Bennett, along with J. David Maynes, are the only Presidents who had a separation between terms in office.
As Dayton matured as a local lodge, it built a strong reputation on the state level. Presidents Robert Swartz, Lee Slife and Guy Rohrer served on the State of Ohio Executive Board during the 1960s and 1970s. Swartz was the State First Vice President. Slife served two terms as the FOP Fifth District Trustee (covering southwest Ohio) in the 1960s. Rohrer served three terms in the same capacity.
They paved the way for Virgil McDaniel, who had a great deal of influence on both the State and National level. Virgil McDaniel was the Dayton Lodge Treasurer when he was elected State FOP Fifth District Trustee in 1978 and later State Vice President. In 1983 McDaniel became the Ohio FOP President. Under his guidance other members would gain statewide positions, most notably Michael Tenore, who became a member of the National FOP Executive Board when elected Trustee for the State of Ohio. McDaniel helped set the stage for the ascent of his successor, Steve Young, to the National Grand Lodge President in 2001. McDaniel served over two decades as Immediate State Past President and was on the State FOP Executive Board for over 30 total years through 2010.
The standard of excellence continues. The Past Lodge 44 Vice President Derric McDonald was the State of Ohio FOP 2nd Vice President until his recent retirement having previous served as the Sergeant at Arms on the State Executive Board. The Dayton Lodge Immediate Past Lodge President, Michael Galbraith, is presently the State of Ohio FOP Fifth District Trustee.
The 21st Century began a new phase for Lodge No.44, with its use of technology, including computer records, a sound system for meetings at the Lodge Hall, and the creation of a website: www.fopdayton44.org
In January 2000, Kevin Temple became the Lodge’s 22nd President, the first of the new century. Randy Beane is the first multi-term President (4½) of this century. J. David Maynes has the distinction of serving terms in the office of President in two different centuries.
[Revised 1-1-2022]
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