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- Skipper Royster Hedges was born on May 22, 1939, in Kansas City, MO, to Herbert Arlington Hedges, Sr. and Ellen Jacqueline "Jacky" (Royster) Hedges.
Skipper attended Pembroke Country Day School in Kansas City, MO, as well as Culver Military Academy in Culver, In. He graduated in May 1957 from Pembroke and according to his senior yearbook he was a member of the Dramatics Club, Science Club, and the "Raider" yearbook staff. After high school, Skipper attended Drury College in Springfield, MO; the Metropolitan Community College in Kansas City, MO; and the University of Missouri Kansas City, but he did not complete a degree.
For a short period of time Skipper sold insurance for the Equitable Life Insurance Company of Iowa. In 1962, Skipper left the insurance industry to pursue a career in law enforcement when he was hired as a Deputy by the Jackson County Sherriff's Patrol (JCSP). On May 2, 1963, Skipper married Sharon Elaine Miller at the Christian Union Church in Richmond, MO. The couple had one daughter, named Kimberly Hedges-Ensminger, and divorced shortly after her birth. On February 8, 1964, Skipper married Barbara Ann DeCavele in Kansas City, MO One daughter was born to this union named Sabrina Monee "Bri" Hedges-Brown.
In 1965, Skipper left the JCSP after he was elected as the City Marshall of Lake Lotawana, MO in a three-way race against Jean Swisher and Gene Silvey. One year later he was appointed to the Metropolitan Major Case Squad, which was formed to investigate major, multi-jurisdictional crimes in the Kansas City area. Skipper was reelected as City Marshall in 1969. During his time with the Lake Lotawana Police Dept., Skipper gained recognition for revising the city's road traffic code, updating the department's policies and procedures, assisting the Blue Springs Police Dept. in the restructuring of their record system, and establishing a police department for Weatherby Lake, MO. On December 2, 1970, Skipper was elected President of the Metropolitan Chiefs and Sheriffs Association.
In 1972, Skipper ran an unsuccessful campaign to become the Democratic nominee for Sherriff of the Jackson County Sherriff's Dept. against William Carnes. After this primary loss, Skipper also lost his position as Lake Lotawna's City Marshall in the general election to Homer E. Frisby by just 60 votes. Following these electoral disappointments, Skipper worked for the Blue Springs Police Dept., where he wrote a new standard operational procedure manual, and later as an Investigator for the Missouri Social Services Division. In 1975, Skipper divorced Barbara and moved from Lake Lotawana to Blue Springs, MO. In 1977, Skipper made another unsuccessful bid to become the Democratic nominee for Jackson County Sherriff. On May 31, 1978, Skipper married Tanya Kay "Tamie" (Yarrington) Accurso. Skipper and Tamie had two daughters: Britton Royster Hedges and Hilary Skipper Hedges. During the 1980s, Skipper worked in various capacities for the Camden County Sheriff's Dept., St. Clair County Sheriff's Office, Osage Beach Police Dept., and the Windsor Police Dept., while also operating a consulting business called Sab-Brit LLC.
On July 14, 1990, Skipper was appointed as Interim Chief of Police of the Grain Valley Police Dept. (GVPD) by a unanimous vote of the city's Board of Alderman. In addition to his duties as Chief, Skipper was tasked with overseeing the search for a fulltime replacement for former Chief Earl Brackman, developing a new budget, addressing citizen's complaints with the police department, and writing a new procedure manual. On September 15, 1990, the Board voted to make Skipper the permanent, full-time Chief of Police. Over the next seven years, Skipper was credited with upgrading the department's equipment, instituting a zero-tolerance policy for drug convictions, developing a neighborhood watch program, initiating the first D.A.R.E. program in the city, and generally making the GVPD a more professional organization. On December 13, 1997, he left the department to pursue other opportunities. Skipper spent his retirement pursuing private business ventures and passed away at the Lake of the Ozarks on June 21, 2014.
* Skipper's birth name was Edgeworth Thomas "Edge" Brady, but he legally changed it to Skipper Royster Hedges as a teenager.
Kansas City Star Obituary, June 29, 2014, p. 16:
Skipper "SRH" Royster Hedges sailed away peacefully at the Lake of the Ozarks June 21, 2014. He was born May 22, 1939. He dedicated his life to law enforcement, serving communities including Lake Lotawana, Grain Valley and St. Clair County. He was a lifetime member of the Metropolitan Major Case Squad & the International Association of Chiefs of Police. He is survived by his wife, Tamie Hedges, his daughters, Kimberly Hedges-Ensminger, Sabrina Hedges-Brown, Britton Hedges and Hilary Hedges, step-daughter Gina Accurso-Casey and many grandchildren. In lieu of flowers, donations to the Cliff Drive Corridor Management Committee.
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1939 - 2014 (75 years)
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