Dear William you were not only the oldest son of my grand uncle and aunt, William and Ida Janette Hazelton Burch, but also their oldest child. How wonderful it would have been to know you.

According to descriptive newspaper accounts in the newspaper, you were shot through the hand and abdomen by Oklahoma "cop killer" Will Lawrence while he and his younger brother, Babe, were stealing gasoline on the corner of Seventh Street and Jefferson here in Phoenix. You were the first officer in Phoenix to have died in the line of duty. How hard this must have been for your mother and most especially on your wife and three children.

The newspaper article went on to say that there was never a more fearless officer; that your lack of fear was fatal; and that you were so sure of yourself, that the law which you represented seemed so majestic, that you weighed too lightly the desperation of the criminals that you last encountered. It also talked about how your hours as a peace officer were long, frequently extending far into the night and sometimes filling the whole night. But you always acted in cooperation with the police and the sheriff's forces, and though independent of both, you were ready for any call from either that might be made upon you. 

I think what was pointed out in the article that showed what great compassion you possessed was in the following statement:   Often when spiteful complaints were filed in the court to which Mr. Burch was attached, before formally serving the papers he informally called upon complainant and defendant and talked the trouble over with them, with the result that the complaint was withdrawn and there was a lasting peace instead of the rankling animosity that would have prevailed in the neighborhood. Very frequently he induced parties in trifling civil suits to accept his services as arbitrator and he pointed out how in those cases nobody could win in court. The winner would be a loser. Case after case was so disposed of in the court in which he was attached.

But I think the thing that would be of utmost importance to you is your children. You would be so proud of all three of them and their accomplishments. Lewis has always been so outgoing and cheerful, he always speaks of you with such obvious fondness. After all of these years you still are remembered with great respect and admiration by your children, family and the people of Phoenix.