Duty Death: Joseph G. Portaro - [Dunbar]
End of Service: 14/03/2016
By Kathy Plum
The Dominion Post
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — A West Virginia State Police trooper who died unexpectedly Monday is being remembered as a good officer and a good man.
The state police announced 1st Sgt. Joseph G. Portaro’s death in a statement Monday:
“It is with deepest regret and sorrow that the West Virginia State Police announces the unexpected death of 1st Sgt. Joseph G. Portaro (50 years of age, a native of Clarksburg. He was a 17-year veteran of the West Virginia State Police and assigned to the West Virginia State Police Academy as the deputy director of training.”
The statement continued to say Portaro suffered a medical emergency while participating in a physical fitness training routine near the grounds of the West Virginia State Police Academy. He was transported to Thomas Memorial Hospital in South Charleston, where he was pronounced dead.”
Portaro lived in Morgantown. A 1987 graduate of WVU, he enlisted in the West Virginia State Police on Oct. 26, 1998. After graduation from the academy, he was assigned to the Kingwood detachment. In 2008, he was assigned as a staff officer to the West Virginia State Police Academy.
“He was my ‘trooper brother,’” said Kristy Ridenour, who has been the office manager at the Kingwood detachment for more than 30 years. “It’s just a big shock.”
“He was a really good guy. Very talented, worked well with everybody. Widely known, well liked,” Ridenour said. “Extremely knowledgeable and intelligent. It’s just a big shock.”
Her sentiments were echoed by many.
“I’m just shocked to hear the news this morning,” said 1st Lt. Danny Swiger, who was Portaro’s training officer.
“Joe was somebody who came into the department older than most people come as a trooper, and the thing that struck me the most when Joe came to Kingwood, even though he was older than I was, the maturity and respect he had for me as his training officer. I’ll never forget that about Joe.”
Before joining the state police, Portaro was a social studies teacher, worked for the City of Clarksburg, obtained a master’s degree in recreation and parks management, and worked for some small Harrison County police forces.
With the state police, he found a home.
“This is where I want to be,” he told The Dominion Post in 2004, after he became the first West Virginian to attend the National Forensics Academy. At the time, he was working on homicide cases throughout the state.
“He’s been so proud of the accomplishments he made in the department,” Swiger said.
He noted that Portaro exercised regularly, running marathons and endurance races.
Ron Crites retired from the State Police before Portaro was stationed at Kingwood but got to know him while Crites served as sheriff and both volunteered with the Kingwood Volunteer Fire Department.
“Joe was just a good guy,” Crites said. “He volunteered for the fire department here. He was interested in the community he served and was a good police officer. I knew him to be honest and fair.”
Annette Sovastion, now retired from the State Police and working with WVU Police, knew Portaro well, starting with when they were stationed at the Kingwood Detachment.
“I was privileged to work with him there and early on I thought he was going to be a dynamic trooper,” Sovastion said. “As it turns out he was even more than that. A family man, with a wife and children he cherished, 1st Sgt. Portaro had leadership and dedication that was second to none. He was admired by all troopers, deputies and police officers who wore a badge in West Virginia. His absence will be felt deeply by all that knew him.”
Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin issued a statement on Portaro’s passing:
“Joanne and I extend our deepest condolences and prayers to the family of West Virginia State Police 1st Sgt. Joseph G. Portaro and our state’s law enforcement community as they mourn the tragic loss of one of their own. We ask all West Virginians to join us as we remember the sacrifices our law enforcement officers make, and keep them in our thoughts they work to keep us safe.”
Copyright 2016 The Dominion Post