Jon Lindquist - living his dream

Jon Lindquist wanted to be a police officer from the time he was in sixth grade. His uncle’s stories of police work had whetted his appetite to catch the bad guys and help other people. He was determined to follow that dream, so he got his degree in accounting and…

What’s accounting got to do with it, you may be wondering? Jon said it was his father’s wish that he get a degree he could fall back on if necessary. So he became the first in his family to get a college degree and said it was the best advice he could have followed.

After hearing an FBI agent speak about white collar crime, and learning the federal agency uses accountants to help with that, he decided to apply. But then he learned that the FBI prefers accountants with experience, something he didn’t have yet. Plan B - he thought he would apply at the Tulsa police department, where he lived at the time, only to find there was a hiring freeze.

So, Jon became an accountant, got married and spent the next few years pushing the proverbial pencil.

“Then one day, I was sitting at my desk, looking out the window, and saw a Tulsa police officer make a stop,” Jon said. “And I thought, I’m going to follow my dream.”

At that time, his wife, Alison, got offered a teaching job in Kansas City. And that’s when Jon got in a serious conversation with God. Do I change careers with the move or do I stay in accounting, Jon asked.

“And I felt that he steered me,” Jon said. “Like telling me this is the time. I felt relaxed. And then everything fell into place.”

Jon applied at several departments, and within three months of moving to this area, he was offered a job with the Lenexa police department. That year, he was one of only two hired out of 300 applicants.  He went through training at the police academy, and then hit the streets as a patrolman.

One of his first calls brought him face to face with human tragedy. While patrolling, he received a notice of gunshots fired. Since he was nearby, he headed to the location, saw people in the driveway, someone on the ground, and with gun in hand, approached to ask what was happening. Sadly, a young man had shot himself in the head, and his parents were begging for help, needing an ambulance, trying to keep their son alive. Those moments waiting for help can seem interminable. All Jon could do was try to keep the parents calm and wait with them for help to arrive. It would be later that he would try to process seeing his first gun-shot victim.

A few years and hundreds of calls later, Jon and Alison had a son, Zach, but the baby was born with a serious heart defect. Zach had surgery when he was a week old, and that whole first year was touch and go, worrying about every little sound, every different breath, Jon said. He took some time off just to cope. Shortly after he returned to patrol duty, Jon said, he realized the effect his son’s precarious health had on him.

“One of my first calls after I returned was a medical call, a 12 or 13-year-old boy with sickle cell anemia,” Jon said. “It’s a painful disease. He was crying and screaming in pain. When I got back in my car, I had to sit there for a few minutes. It pierced me.”

Thankfully, calls like that were balanced with calls that ended happily. A gentleman who was out walking because he was trying to improve his health after having several heart attacks had fallen, Jon said. He was unconscious but breathing when Jon arrived on scene. Jon realized that the man’s dentures had come loose and were blocking his air flow. So he removed the dentures from the man’s mouth, and then the paramedics arrived to take over. That gentleman survived, and made sure those who had helped him that day were thanked. That’s a good feeling, Jon said.

After some years on patrol, catching “bad guys” and helping people in a variety of situations, Jon became a school resource officer. He said he found he loved working with kids. It was a great joy for him to earn their trust so they felt safe talking to him, asking questions, seeking his help about handling various situations.

Jon recalled a fifth-grade boy he met, who was reported to be bullying and intimidating other kids. Jon sat in a room with the boy and his counselor, explaining to the youth how he was being perceived, trying to make him understand that making kids afraid of you is not the way to make them like you. Then Jon noticed that the boy had a lanyard with keys around his neck, and the lanyard carried the letters, WWJD, an acronym for “What Would Jesus Do?” When Jon saw that, he asked the boy if he believed in what he was wearing around his neck. The boy said he did, so Jon said to him, “What would Jesus do in your situation?” When he asked this, Jon said, “It was like an ‘aha’ moment.” The happy ending is that some time later, the counselor sought out Jon to tell him that his talk with the boy had turned him around and now the boy was like a different person. Another good feeling, Jon said.

When Jon turned 50, he had some health issues and started thinking about retiring. The police department wanted him to stay, but Jon wasn’t sure what to do. He was at a crossroads, so he started praying about it. He was out jogging one morning, he said, when another jogger came running up behind them. Jon wasn’t going to make eye contact, because in police work you learn that sometimes that brings trouble.



Jon Lindquist



But the jogger came along next to him, and Jon said he heard him say, “You’re doing this for your family. You’re doing this for yourself. Keep up the good work.” Jon said he thought, who is this and why is he invading my thoughts? But then Jon decided that this stranger, who said those words and took off, was an angel with a message for him. And when Jon discerned that message was that he should retire, he said, he felt a sense of peace. His health improved and his blood pressure returned to normal when it had been running high.

As many know, retirement doesn’t really mean retirement. Within a few months, Jon was offered a position as a Blue Valley School District Campus Police Officer. “I started thinking, well, I guess I’m not done helping kids yet,” Jon said.



He took the job, and is once again doing something he loves, and that is combining police work, mainly crime prevention, with helping kids. And, he has two kids of his own. His son Zach is now 22, and his daughter, Sara, is 19. Jon plays softball for fun.

Upon reflecting, Jon said, “It feels good to have realized my dream. I feel like I accomplished what I wanted. And I can use my experience to help others.”