‘Honoring the Fallen’: Deputy John Durm

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Marion County Deputy John Durm’s “End of Watch” fell on July 10 in an attack by an inmate.

There are those who knew his life.

“He lived life to the fullest,” said John Durm Jr., Deputy Durm’s oldest son. “From the inmates, to the people he worked with, to our family. He was a great man.”

Those who knew his work.

“I always saw a uniqueness in him being able to handle people that were in a bad place in life,” said Charles McClain, a Captain with the Marion County Sheriff’s Office. “I think that’s what all law enforcement officers aspire to be.”

Those who knew his passions.

“The times John Durm and I crossed paths, all he could talk about was the joyful glee he had in his boys, in his family,” said Reggie Miller, retired Indiana Pacers player.

John Durm spent 38 of his 61 years with the Marion County Sheriff’s Office. As someone colleagues called an “unsung hero,” he worked directly with inmates and out of the public’s view.

Best known as a father of four sons, loved ones say Durm instilled his own own love of activity as a five-sport athlete at Lawrence North High School, turned avid Pacers fan, hunter, and fisherman.

There are those who knew, and now, those who live to carry a legacy.

“We all miss you so much,” said Cory Durm, Deputy Durm’s second son. “We will stick together forever, for you man.”