Retired police officer Tom Sammons passes at age 81

Tom Sammons — a retired longtime Dayton police officer and a member of a storied family of Dayton police officers — died Saturday at age 81, a family member told this news outlet.

From an October 2002 story written by late Dayton Daily News columnist Dale Huffman, Sammons said his retirement from the Dayton police force at that time marked the “end of an era.”

“As Officer Thomas Sammons steps down from his position on the Dayton Police Department this week, he ends a remarkable family tradition,” Huffman wrote in that column. “For the first time in 67 years, there will not be a Sammons on the Dayton police roster.

“Sgt. Daniel Sammons, Sammons’ late father, had a distinguished career with the Dayton police that started in 1937 and lasted for 32 years.

“Lt. Michael Sammons, his brother, retired in 1991 after a 32-year police career in Dayton that ended as he served as commander of the police academy.

“Office Tom Sammons, who serves as events coordinator in the Central Business District downtown, is turning in his badge after 37 years.

“‘It is the end of an era,’ Tom Sammons said.”

A family member said Sunday the family had not yet drafted an obituary or made funeral arrangements. He said he intended to notify the Dayton Police Department of his passing.

He was living in Dayton at the time of his passing, a relative said. He was at a Wilmington nursing home when he died.

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