U.S. Army Veteran & Chicago Police Sergeant Thomas J. Loftus dead at 75 - nation's first 'Officer Friendly'

Mr. Loftus, 75, who was Officer Friendly until 1969, died Dec. 20 of complications from prostate cancer. When he was diagnosed in 2000, doctors predicted he would survive seven years, but he surprised them and lived twice as long, his wife said.

His work as Officer Friendly, sponsored by the Sears-Roebuck Foundation, was so successful that by the 1968-69 school year, the department had named 40 Officer Friendlies, who were to connect with an estimated 675,000 Chicago children. The program expanded to include “all public, Catholic, Lutheran, Hebrew and Greek elementary schools,” according to the Journal of American Insurance. Officers started bringing squad cars to schools so students could listen to the radios and work the Mars lights, said the Chicago Police Star.

Soon, Sears was bankrolling the program in 20 cities, including Atlanta, Houston, Miami, Milwaukee, Oakland, Seattle and Wichita. By the 1990s, it had rolled out in 40 states, according to Sears spokesman Howard Riefs.

While actor Dean Allen, who once voiced Donald Duck, portrayed an “Officer Friendly” character on an early kids’ TV show in Dallas, Mr. Loftus was the first “real” Officer Friendly from a police department, according to police records and Sears archives.

Mr. Loftus “treated people the way he wanted his family to be treated,” said retired Chicago Police Capt. Bill McCorry.

“He got along with everybody,” said Emil Giese, former Town Hall district commander.

His ability to connect stemmed from growing up in a big family, his wife said. “He came from a family of seven [children], and he was the youngest boy, and there were tons of nieces and nephews,” she said. “He liked kids and [had] a friendly personality and a wonderful smile.”

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