THE memories of former police officers Bob Spears and Peter Addison are being preserved by three Port Macquarie boys who never met their grandfathers.
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Blake Addison, 6, Joey Addison, 4, and Liam Jones, 4, were not born when the Kempsey-based senior
constables were shot down at Crescent Head in 1995.
Late last month the boys were taken into their
grandparents’ former world of crime and justice during an open day at Port Macquarie Police Station.
They joined retired officers and their families on a tour of the station to uphold their
family’s connection with the NSW Police Force.
“I wasn’t lucky enough to meet them but my brother Joe and cousin Liam and I were treated so special at the open day we know our pops were important and special,” Blake said.
There has been a concerted effort by the Addison and Spears families to ensure the boys understand the sacrifices their grandfathers made to
protect the community before their death.
Policing had been such a dominant part of the Addison and Spears lives before the shooting that the boys’ parents wanted it to be part of the next generation too.
Blake and Joey Addison were an indirect result of the tragedy 12 years ago. The shooting brought their parents Jade Spears and Glen Addison together – Jade Spears and Glen Addison were the children of Bob Spears and Peter Addison.
Liam Jones is Bob Spears’s grandson – Liam’s mother Hayley Jones changed her maiden name from Addison when she married.
The web of family
connections and history has only brought the Addisons and Spears closer.
The trio of boys, their sisters, their parents, and their grandmothers are almost inseparable.
Next year, they will all attend Police Remembrance Day for the first time as a whole family to reflect again on the lives Bob Spears and Peter Addison.
