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As far as legacies go, kindness is a pretty good one to leave behind. That is how many people are remembering fallen Hancock County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Luke Gross — as a kind and dedicated member of his community.
Gross, a 44-year-old husband and father of two from Hancock, was killed last Thursday morning on Route 3 in Trenton. Gross died after being struck by a truck while cleaning up debris on the side of the roadway, where another vehicle had gone off the road. He was wearing a high visibility vest and the emergency lights on his cruiser were flashing, according to state police.
State police also have said that they do not expect charges to be filed against the driver of the truck.
As the crash continues to be investigated, regardless of what that investigation finds, this tragic loss should once again emphasize the need to be careful on Maine roadways — drivers and pedestrians alike. As state police have already been stressing, people should be particularly careful around crash scenes.
This has once again, sadly, highlighted the imperative to “Be careful.” There should be another takeaway, too: Be more like Gross.
Christina Leeman Gramolini of Hancock remembered him as an “amazing man” who arrived to help after she made an emergency call to police during an episode of domestic violence at her home.
“I met him on, so far, the worst day of my life,” Gramolini said. “I think a lot of people came across him on some of their worst days.”
“He was so kind. He made sure that I knew it was serious, that this was a pattern that needed to be broken,” she told the BDN. “He just went above and beyond. It made me feel that somebody cared, in a moment I felt really embarrassed. I felt like an idiot, but he didn’t make me feel that way.”
It’s no small thing, to have that kind of positive impact on someone else.
“He loved his job. He loved the people that he served. He believed in his job and he believed in service,” said Windham police officer Ernie MacVane, who knew Gross from the police academy years ago. “We aren’t perfect. But if there was a bar to be set, he was the bar.”
Todd West, the former longtime principal at Deer Island-Stonington High School, spent a lot of time with Gross in the spring of 2017, when the deputy helped bring a program aimed at getting high school students to understand the consequences of drinking or texting while driving to the school.
“Kids he had never met before, by the end of the night they were best friends,” West said. “I was always grateful. It’s easy to have youth be unsure of law enforcement, and wary, because sometimes either they or family members have had bad experiences.”
There seems to be no shortage of people remembering the good experiences they had with Gross. Those remembrances continued at his funeral service Thursday at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor.
“Life was always an adventure with him, and I’m not ready for that adventure to end,” Gross’ wife Lauren said Thursday.
“I hope the kids and I are able to carry on his legacy and continue to make him proud. Life is short. Slow down. Spend time with those that matter, and go play that game of Uno,” she added.
“The world needs more like Luke in law enforcement,” Hancock County Sheriff Scott Kane said at a press conference last week. Based on how people are remembering Gross, we’d say Maine could use more of his kindness in all parts of our communities.
