Lighthorse officer to be honored on Memorial Wall

This article appeared in the February 2017 edition of the Chickasaw Times

Since its inception in 1991, the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C., has honored over 20,000 law enforcement officers who have died in the line of duty.

On May 13 a local hero’s name will be added to that honored list.

Chickasaw Lighthorse Police Special Agent Robert Patrick Flickinger was 37 years old when he was killed in an automobile accident in 2008 while on duty in Marshall County, Oklahoma.

Cheyenne Williams, Mr. Flickinger’s daughter, said her father was more than a great role model.

“He was a great father, my hero, my best friend and everything I aspired to be in life,” Mrs. Williams said. “He was a single dad, so it was just him and me and we were very close. We did so many things together.”

Those things included more than the traditional outdoor activities one might expect from a macho lawman. This dad engaged in activities that demonstrated great sensitivity to his little daughter.

“He played dress up and tea parties,” she said. “But he also took me hunting and fishing.”

Nor was her father’s love limited to the home.

“He cared so much for the community,” Mrs. Williams said. “He had the biggest heart. His love and kindness at home and to anyone he met was admirable. He always had a smile on his face and his laugh was contagious.”

Agent Flickinger began his career with the Chickasaw Nation Lighthorse Police Department in 2004. In 2007 he was promoted to special agent assigned to work in narcotics enforcement. He was also a member of both the Lighthorse Police Scuba-Dive Team and Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) Team.

He had 16 years in law enforcement, was a U.S. Navy veteran and a graduate of the FBI National Academy where he earned the coveted Yellow Brick Road award. He studied criminology at Southeastern Oklahoma State University where he maintained 4.0 grade point average that earned him a spot in the National Honor Society.

Agent Flickinger attended the Assembly of God Church in Madill, Okla., where he was an active member of the Praise Team and the Young Adult Class.

Then-Lighthorse Police Chief Jason O’Neal said the Chickasaw Nation and Oklahoma lost a hero with Agent Flickinger’s passing.

“He considered it an honor to serve his community and is dearly missed,” Chief O’Neal said. “Agent Flickinger accomplished his goal of being a positive role model to his daughter and his community.”

“Throughout the past eight years, I never thought he would be recognized for the hero he truly was,” Mrs. Williams said. “But when that day came, I had no words, only tears of joy. I just wish my children could have met him.”

Mrs. Williams’ older son, six-year-old Colton, wants to be a policeman just like his grandpa. Her younger son, four-year-old Jesse Ray, loves him very much even though he never met him.

“Our family (including husband Jessie Williams, a sheriff’s deputy in Hawkins County, Tennessee) will attend the May 2017 ceremony,” she said.

Son Colton, she said, would be wearing his little police uniform.

“I’m just so glad they get to experience this,” she said.