Frank E. Hermanson
Agency: Kansas City Police Department, MO
Detective Frank Hermanson was one of four law enforcement officers killed in an incident referred to as the Kansas City Massacre.
The Kansas City Massacre occurred when the Pretty Boy Floyd gang attempted to free gang member Frank Nash. Nash was being transported from Oklahoma to the U.S. Penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas. Unbeknownst to the officers, an informant had relayed all the information regarding Nash's arrival and his law enforcement escorts to various gangsters throughout the area.
As the group of officers and agents entered their cars at Union Station, in Kansas City, the gang opened fire. In the ensuing gun battle Detective Frank Hermanson and Detective William Grooms, of the Kansas City Police Department, Chief of Police Otto Read, of the McAlester Police Department, Oklahoma, and Special Agent Raymond Caffrey, of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, were shot and killed. Frank Nash, the prisoner the gang was trying to free, was also shot and killed.
Pretty Boy Floyd was shot and killed the following year during a shootout with officers. A second gang member was arrested and executed for the murders, and the third gang member was found dead from an unrelated murder.
Detective Frank Hermanson, 42, was pronounced dead at Union Station as a result of a gunshot wound to the head and skull fracture on June 17th, 1993. He was survived by his wife, Montie and their son Robert. Not many details are known about the personal life of Detective Hermanson. Robert, who was 21 years old at the time of his father's death, said “He was my pal, my best friend.”
Frank's funeral notice appeared in both the Kansas City Star and the Kansas City Times:
"HERMANSON - Frank E., age 42, passed away Saturday morning; survived by his wife Mrs. Monte Be. Hermanson; 1 son Robert E. of the home, 6123 Olive Street; stepfather, P. E. Ostertag, 2571 Hiawatha, Kansas City, Kansas; niece Lois Hermanson, 5100 Highland. Remains will lie in state at the home until noon Monday, June 19, after which they will be removed to the O. V. Mast drawing room 3146 Main St., where services will be held at 2 P.M. Interment - Woodlawn Cemetery, Kansas City, Kansas."
Montie and Frank are buried together in Highland Park Cemetery, Kansas City, Kansas.
Reflections:
References:
www.findagrave.com/memorial/76207833/montie-belle-hermanson/photo
Kansas Myths and Legends: The True Stories behind History's Mysteries By Diana Lambdin Meyer (Book)