ELMORE – A Woodville youth chose to use his Eagle Scout project to honor a fallen police officer.
Clark Jividen recently finished a memorial he created in honor of Elmore police officer Jose "Andy" Chavez, who was killed in a shooting at the Last Call Bar in Fremont in March.
Clark, a junior at PENTA Career Center in Perrysburg, met Chavez at school and spoke with him a few days before his death.
"Less than a week later, I heard he had been killed," Clark said. "I wanted to do this to honor him and his family and to let the town know how appreciative we are of him."
The memorial, which includes a handmade bench and table, was placed near the flag pole at Ory Park in Elmore. Clark talked with Chavez family members to gain an understanding of who he was and what he liked, and then used what he learned to design the memorial. Each piece of it has a connection to Chavez's life.
"He found out that he and his wife, Amber, were high school sweethearts. They met when they were 13," said Clark's mother, Carol Jividen. "I told him about how, in the old days, people used to carve their initials in trees."
Because family was so important to Chavez, Clark made that the focus of the memorial. A tree painted on the bench shows "Andy + Amber" carved in the bark. Two apples are inscribed with his children's names — Marieh and Emmitt — because they were "the apples of his eye," and the name of the couple's wedding song, "Stuck Like Glue," is also there.
A slab of a fallen tree was used to make the table, and a soccer ball was painted on its top. Chavez was a varsity soccer coach at Woodmore High School, and Clark said soccer was Chavez's favorite activity.
Because Eagle Scout projects aren't meant to be accomplished alone, Clark sought help from other members of Troop 344, a few local parents, and Pat Luther, the Constructive Masonry Teacher at PENTA.
"He came out and helped. We were very grateful he was willing to be the guidance over that," Carol said. "He's a wonderful man."
Clark did much of the construction and all of the wood burning himself.
The Chavez family was very pleased with the result. Chavez's widow, Amber, said Clark did a wonderful job representing her husband's life and passions in the bench memorial.
"I think it's a great tribute to my husband," Amber said. "The whole community will be able to participate and use that honor."
Carol said Chavez's parents sent Clark a very kind letter thanking him for the memorial.
"The letter said: 'Not only will we remember him when we look at it, but we will think of you as well,'" Carol said.
Elmore Mayor Matt Damschroder also was grateful to Clark for the memorial.
"It is very, very nice work," Damschroder said. "We are honored that he was able and was willing to do this in memory of Andy."

Clark will present his required Eagle Scout paperwork at a roundtable meeting in December and will have his Eagle Scout ceremony in January.
His attainment of Eagle Scout rank will be the culmination of years of hard work and the fulfillment of a promise he made to his grandfather, Arthur Clark, who died one year ago this month.
Clark said he joined Boy Scouts at age 11 out of a love of the outdoors and was encouraged to stick with it by his grandfather, who wanted him to become an Eagle Scout.
"I'm a big hunter and fisher," he said. "But this was grandpa's big dream. I knew I was getting close, and I told Grandpa, 'I'm going to do it for you.'"
Clark's grandmother, Helen Clark, will be at the ceremony in her husband's place.
"My dad won't be there for that, but my mom's still here, and she'll be there for him," Carol said.