CANADIAN COUNTY, Oklahoma — When Mike Grimes turned 80, he figured it was time to slow down. Slowing down hasn’t been in the 57 year law enforcement veteran’s vocabulary over the last several decades but Grimes is now hanging it up.
Grimes started his career in 1964 in Yukon (OK) and his life’s mission may have been solidified on May 26, 1978, when Lt. Pat Grimes, the twin brother of Mike, was gunned down serving as a Oklahoma Highway Patrol Trooper.
Mike joined the highway patrol, eventually reaching the #2 spot within the agency.
Throughout his tenure at OHP, Mike would become the go to person for line of duty deaths, working non-stop with the Concerns of Police Survivors and other groups.
After 33 years as a state trooper, he retired and began working for the Department of Agriculture and the Canadian County Sheriff’s Department.
Along the way, he was inducted in the Oklahoma’s Law Enforcement Hall of Fame.
After 57 years, Mike says that he tried to stop in the past and the final goodbye was tough.
But we doubt Mike goes anywhere. After 57 years, this job is in your blood and it never goes away. In fact, Mike tells KOCO that he will continue to work with the Canadian County Sheriff’s Office, but in a non-law enforcement, part-time basis.
