Fallon native John Rowe has been promoted to captain in the Churchill County Sheriff’s Office in a ceremony conducted last week by newly-elected Sheriff Richard Hickox.
Colleagues, friends and family members attended the ceremony at the new law enforcement center. Rowe becomes the department’s second captain and will be in charge of patrol and investigation. Capt. Kevin Johnson is in charge of detention and dispatch.
“John has served our community as well as our agency,” said Hickox before he and Rowe’s wife, Darby, pinned on his new rank.
Rowe began his career with the CCSO in 1992 as a reserve for six months and then was hired as a deputy working in the jail. He attended Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) in 1994 and began working the streets on patrol in 1995. His assignments have been varied for the 48-year-old Rowe, and he has never regretted staying in Churchill County.
“Fallon has always been my home,” he said. “My family is here, I’m a third generation and I have always enjoyed living here.”
When he was first hired as a deputy, Rowe said he worked for then Sheriff Bill Lawry and received guidance from Wayne Whitten and Richard Ingram, who later became sheriff. He said they all put Churchill County first. The early mentoring paid off for Rowe, who advanced through the ranks to investigations in 1999 and then back to patrol as the field training corporal. He was promoted to sergeant in 2014 and became the investigations sergeant, a division he assumed from Hickox, who was promoted to captain.
Rowe said he enjoyed the investigations division, but he prefers the life of a deputy on the streets and also enjoys how the area has retained its small-town feel.
“The majority of people in Churchill County are good people,” Rowe said.
During his years with the CCSO, Rowe said he has had many memories but several stand out, but two involved medical emergencies. Rowe said he delivered a couple’s baby along the Lovelock Highway and performed CPR on the infant. Another involved the unclogging of a child’s tracheotomy tube. A day after the Amtrak collision with a tractor-trailer in June 2011, Rowe became a team leader, but he specifically remembers the combined efforts of individuals and groups.
“So many people brought calm to the chaos,” he said.
Rowe’s mother, DeeAnn, attended the promotion in addition to his children, Morgan and John II, and his brother Chris and his family. His father, Richard, passed away in 2010. In addition to serving Churchill County, John Rowe said he enjoys being a coach for the Lahontan Valley Claybreakers, a group that teachers youngsters the sport of clay-target shooting. He also enjoys his time with family, hunting and fishing.
Hickox also announced deputies Chris Thorn and Paul Loop, who both have been working as investigators for two and six years, respectively, were recently promoted to the rank of corporal. The Sheriff’s Office Administration team includes Hickox, Rowe, Johnson and Undersheriff Bill Lawry, who was sworn in as a volunteer on Jan. 7.