By Mary Owen
Bob Thomas has a heart for helping people.
The former detective left the Stayton Police Department in June to take on a new role as senior staff chaplain for Crisis Chaplaincy Services, a Salem-based nonprofit that serves agencies and the public primarily in Marion and Benton counties.
“In reality, being a police officer, the responsibility is to help people,” Thomas said. “Being a chaplain is also to help people, just from a different perspective. Over the years as a police officer, I have had many opportunities to help fellow officers and the public. Now I will be able to focus on helping emergency service responders and the public in their time of crisis.”
Although Thomas will be missed at the Stayton Police Department, Chief Rick Sebens takes comfort in that his “good friend, employee, and a very good investigator” won’t be very far away.
“We are losing many years of experience, but he is just a phone call away if we have questions,” Sebens said of Thomas, whom, he added, “solved many cases while working here, and he worked great with other agencies to jointly solve cases. He worked both small and large cases from thefts to homicides.”
Thomas will still help Stayton PD as a police chaplain, Sebens said.
“As a chaplain, we use him when working with the public during very tragic events,” he said. “While we the police are working to solve the incident, Bob will be working with the victims as they go through the grieving process. He will also be available to police officers when they need to talk and work through the stress of the career.”
Chaplaincy will offer Thomas the chance to put his faith to action.
“My faith is a very strong component of my life,” said Thomas, who attended and graduated from Western Pentecostal Bible College in British Columbia after high school. “As a chaplain, I will do my best to provide encouraging support and compassion to people I speak with. I will try to support them in their faith/belief during their time of need.”
Born and raised in the Willamette Valley, Thomas lived in the McMinnville area until he was 10 and then moved to Salem with his family. He graduated from South Salem High School before attending Western Pentecostal, now called Summit Pacific College, majoring in theology. After college, he married his wife, Dianne, and both were pastors of churches in Oregon and the Yukon Territory.
Thomas followed three career paths – pastor, automotive parts business, police officer – before turning to the chaplaincy.
“I have always had an interest in police work,” Thomas said. “In 1975, I had the opportunity to become a reserve police officer at the Stayton Police Department. In November 1975, I was hired as a full-time officer there. I have enjoyed helping people and trying to make the community safer by working as a police officer.”
In 1977, Thomas left Stayton PD to work for the Linn County Sheriff’s Office. In 1981, he was hired by the Salem Police Department, where he worked through 1983, and in 1990, the Hubbard Police Department until 1995. He returned to the Stayton Police Department 1998, spending his last six years as a detective.
“Yeah, I could have retired a long time ago,” said Thomas, 64, “but I enjoyed my job.”
Thomas and Dianne’s children are Timothy and Pamela. Tim and his wife, Tonya, have two children, Macy, 6, and Jack, 3. Pamela works for the Oregon State Police Records Department.
