Friends, family, law enforcement, and state lawmakers gather Friday to honor Kings County Deputy Sheriff Allen Sharra

By Ed Martin, Editor
State Senator Melissa Hurtado, Assemblyman Rudy Salas, and Gina Sharra pose with a proclamation designating Allen Sharra Memorial Highway.
State Senator Melissa Hurtado, Assemblyman Rudy Salas, and Gina Sharra pose with a proclamation designating Allen Sharra Memorial Highway.
Gary Feinstein/Feinsteinfotos

Somewhere, in Heaven’s law enforcement sector, the late Allen Thomas Sharra is smiling, because on this chilly December day (Dec. 20), the late officer’s friends, family, and fellow law enforcement officers crowded into Lemoore’s Fleet Reserve Club to celebrate his service as a Kings County Deputy Sheriff.

He is one of many in law enforcement – and only the second in the history of the Kings County Sheriff’s Department – to die in the line of duty. It was almost 20 years to the day – Dec. 27, 1999 – that Sharra, on the job for less than a year and accompanied by a Boy Scout Explorer on a ride-a-long, died in the line of duty, responding to a call for assistance from a fellow officer when his patrol car ran off the roadway and hit a canal embankment.

It may have taken 20 years but with the help of Kings County’s assemblyman and state senator, and the efforts of his fellow Kings County Sheriff’s Department officers, a stretch of Highway Route 41 in Kings County has been named the Kings County Deputy Sheriff Allen Thomas Sharra Memorial Highway.

The sign is located on Highway 41 between Lansing and Lincoln avenues.

It was Assemblyman Rudy Salas, who shepherded Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 38 through the state legislature and was present on Friday – along with State Senator Melissa Hurtado – to honor the late deputy sheriff.

“It’s important that we remember this story,” said Salas. “In this community, we sincerely appreciate and respect the work you do, speaking of the many members of law enforcement in attendance on Friday to honor their fallen comrade.

Gina Sharra with friends, family, legislators and Kings County officials as her late husband, Deputy Allen Sharra is honored with a Memorial Highway designation.
Gina Sharra with friends, family, legislators and Kings County officials as her late husband, Deputy Allen Sharra is honored with a Memorial Highway designation.

“I am pleased that our community has come together to create this memorial highway to honor Deputy Sheriff Sharra,” said Salas in a statement. “Mr. Sharra dedicated his life to the service of his country and community, first as a Navy veteran and later as a deputy sheriff. With the renaming of State Route 41, we will continue to remember Deputy Sheriff Sharra’s sacrifice and his many contributions to Kings County.”

“I’m extremely happy,” said Sharra’s wife, Gina, following the ceremony. She was present with members of her family. “I’ve been waiting for this for a long time. He was a wonderful human being.”

Sharra said that she met her future husband while both were students at West Hills College and remembers when he asked her to marry him. “We were living together, and he put an engagement ring in a pair of jeans that he bought me, and he asked me to look in the pocket of the jeans. I told him I would later. He said no, you have to look now. So, I looked in them, and there was an engagement ring.”

She also recalled his love for his job. “He was a wonderful person. He just loved every minute of it.”

A native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he was born in 1968 and was only 31 when he died. He joined the United States Navy, and as an avionics mechanic, found himself stationed at Naval Air Station Lemoore.  He majored in the administration of justice at West Hills, and while serving with the Navy, Sharra began his law enforcement career as a reserve police officer in Huron in 1993. Following his honorable discharge from the Navy in 1995, he became a sergeant in the National Guard.

He graduated from the POST Basic Peace Officer Academy at College of the Sequoias in 1998. On April 8, 1999, Sheriff Ken Marvin hired Sharra and assigned the young officer to patrol the Lemoore and Hanford area.

 

Friends, family, law enforcement, and state lawmakers gather Friday to honor Kings County Deputy Sheriff Allen Sharra

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