Fallen Everett officer honored after 120 years

Everett police said in May 2026 that Officer Charles “Ed” Ray, whose death on Dec. 31, 1906 had largely disappeared from official memory, has now been formally recognized as a line-of-duty death. The recognition followed research by Everett detectives and local historians that reconstructed how Ray was killed while trying to arrest a suspect on Hewitt Avenue. His name has since been added to Washington state and national memorials for fallen officers. The case has also prompted local efforts to mark his grave in Everett. ### How did a 1906 death return to the department’s records? Officer Charles Ed Ray died on Dec. 31, 1906, after suffering fatal injuries while attempting to arrest a suspect on Hewitt Avenue in Everett, according to the Behind the Badge Foundation’s roll call entry for Ray. The foundation, which maintains the Washington State Law Enforcement Memorial, said witnesses reported Ray was struck in the head during the confrontation, collapsed onto the sidewalk and was then kicked. Everett police said Ray’s case resurfaced during a review of the department’s history of line-of-duty deaths. City of Everett materials now list Ray among four Everett officers and one police K-9 who died in the line of duty, a change from years in which his name was not part of the department’s public accounting. ### What do records say happened on Hewitt Avenue? The Behind the Badge Foundation said Ray was working as a patrolman on the evening of Dec. 31, 1906, when he tried to arrest William Marcks. (behindthebadgefoundation.org) A struggle followed, and Marcks was taken into custody and charged with first-degree murder, according to the foundation’s summary of contemporary reports. (everettwa.gov) Ray was 47 and had only recently joined the Everett Police Department, the foundation said. Historical newspaper accounts cited by the foundation said he had been added to the force with two other patrolmen as Everett expanded its police presence. ### Why was Ray omitted for so long? Everett’s current line-of-duty deaths page says Ray and his wife were buried in unadorned plots at Evergreen Cemetery and that their graves are now in the process of being marked with new headstones. (behindthebadgefoundation.org) That detail points to how little formal recognition his death received over the decades, even though contemporary accounts treated it as the killing of an officer on duty. The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund says its memorial in Washington, D.C., honors officers whose names are approved as official line-of-duty deaths. The fund says more than 23,000 officers who died in the line of duty since 1786 are commemorated there. Ray’s addition places his case within that national record nearly 120 years after his death. ### Where has Ray now been honored? (everettwa.gov) Washington state memorial records now include Ray through the Behind the Badge Foundation, which says he served with the Everett Police Department in Snohomish County and died at the scene on Dec. 31, 1906. The foundation’s memorial page identifies his survivors as his wife, Lola, and a young daughter. The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund says its memorial in Washington is a permanent monument to officers who made the “ultimate sacrifice,” and public searches of the memorial database are used to confirm those honored there. (nleomf.org) Everett police have said Ray’s name can now be viewed on the national memorial wall. ### What happens next in Everett? Everett’s official memorial page says new headstones for Ray and Mrs. (behindthebadgefoundation.org) Ray are being installed at Evergreen Cemetery through the Everett Police Officer’s Memorial Fund. The city page also now includes Ray in the department’s permanent line-of-duty record alongside later fallen officers. Everett police have also tied Ray’s recognition to ongoing public history work inside the city, including research support from the Everett Public Library’s Northwest history resources. (nleomf.org) The next visible milestone is local: the completion of the grave markers at Evergreen Cemetery, where Ray’s burial site is now being formally marked after more than a century. (everettwa.gov) (everettwa.gov)