Volk, May families feel “fantastic,” “blessed” at memorial highway dedication in Modesto

Those who knew, worked with and loved Leo “Bobby” Volk Jr. and Steve May never will forget them. Everyone else now has a permanent reminder of Officer Volk and Sgt. May, who lost their lives while serving the people of Modesto.

Family members, friends, colleagues and others gathered Sunday morning on closed-off Yosemite Boulevard at Claus Road for the dedication of a portion of State Route 132 as the “Modesto Police Officer Leo Volk Jr. Police Sergeant Steve May Memorial Highway.” The men are the only two Modesto police officers killed in action in the department’s 134-year history.

Retired police Chief Mike Harden praised May as larger than life, a cop’s cop, and recalled how helpless he and others felt as the sergeant was pulled from his crushed patrol car early July 29, 2002. After a “horrific collision with a suspect who was fleeing officers and who had assaulted a deputy sheriff earlier that evening,” May was left in a coma, Harden said, and died in July 2009. The 53-year-old was a 23-year department veteran.

Because of the sign, Harden said, future generations will know of May’s and Volk’s sacrifice. But at a ceremony that included an honor guard and K9 and equestrian units,, the former chief added, “As I think back about the Steve May I knew, and what he might think about all this pomp and circumstance, he would say something like, ‘Enough, get back to work.’ For he would recognize the world does not stop — there’s calls to answer, issues to deal with, dark places to go when someone calls.”

Retired MPD sergeant and current Modesto Councilman Douglas Ridenour Sr. spoke of his friendships with Volk and May. He recalled that as a young police reservist in 1972, he connected right away with Volk and tried to ride out with him as often as he could. He even managed to get Volk’s home number to edge out other reservists. “I made a phone call Saturday night, May 20 (1973), and I rode out with him the night before he died. I’ll remember that night forever.”

That next night, May 21, a vehicle pulled in front of Volk’s patrol car during a high-speed chase. The fleeing driver sped away as Volk swerved and a front tire blew out, sending him into a skid across Yosemite and into a large concrete block at a construction site at Conejo Avenue.

Volk, 24, had worked for the department three years.

The officer’s widow, Janet, along with their son and Volk’s sisters, nieces and nephews, attended Sunday’s ceremony. She called the sign “fantastic” and said she was very appreciative of the effort by the department, the Modesto Police Officers Association and Assemblymen Adam Gray and Heath Flora to get the highway named in his and May’s honor.

She said she drove by the sign recently before it was covered for the dedication. “I went, ‘Oh, my gosh!’ that was awesome.”

But her husband would have reacted to the sign and ceremony the way Harden predicted May would have. “He probably wouldn’t have liked this at all — no spotlight on him.”

May’s widow, Diana, attended the ceremony with their son and daughter, son- and daughter-in-law, grandchildren and other family and friends. She said she felt “blessed that we belong to this law enforcement community. It’s been 45 years since we lost Bobby Volk and nine years since Steve died, and to have this kind of support is just amazing. And it’s because of the community and because of our law enforcement community.”

The memorial highway comprises the portion of State Route 132 within the city limits, including L Street, Ninth Street, D Street and Yosemite Boulevard. In addition to the sign on westbound Yosemite west of Claus Road is one on eastbound L Street east of Sixth Street.

This story was originally published August 26, 2018 at 3:26 PM.