Des Moines, IOWA — This week the Department of Public Safety (DPS), Lt. Governor Kim Reynolds, and members of the Iowa State Legislature will honor the legacy of Patrolman Oran “Nanny” Pape, #40. The DPS Building will be renamed the Oran Pape State Office Building, as Pape was the first member of the Iowa Highway Patrol killed in the line of duty.
WHAT: Building Renaming and Dedication
WHEN: Thursday, July 26, 2012
9:15 AM
WHERE: Department of Public Safety Building
215 E. 7th St.
Des Moines, IA 50319
WHO: Lt. Governor Kim Reynolds
Iowa State Legislators
DPS Employees
Patrolman Pape was born in 1907 and was an Iowa native. He was well known in the city of Dubuque for his role as a lifeguard, and later for his career as an Iowa Hawkeye and Green Bay Packer. Following his football career and with the Great Depression in full-swing, Pape jumped at the opportunity when the Highway Patrol announced it was hiring in 1935. Patrolman Pape was one of the first fifty selected by the Iowa Highway Patrol and patrolled for eight months until an encounter on April 29, 1936, which ultimately took his life. Pape died from a bullet wound fired from the gun of a highway bandit, who he eventually shot and killed. He was twenty-nine years old.
