LIEUTENANT ELMER WADMAN
BADGE 34
SDPD 08/16/1940 - 12/14/1960
06/26/1912 - 08/30/1995
THE THIN BLUE LINE
Elmer R. Wadman, a former head of the San Diego Police Department crime laboratory, died last week at Sharp Cabrillo Hospital. He was 83.
After retiring from the Police Department in 1960, Mr. Wadman worked for the District Attorney's Office for 10 years.
He then went to work as a self-employed handwriting and fingerprint analyst, testifying as an expert in cases throughout Southern California.
Mr. Wadman was born in Ogden, Utah, but spent most of his life in San Diego. He was a graduate of San Diego High School.
Mr. Wadman was known to many friends by the nickname "Sweet and Lovable," because whenever he was asked how he was, he answered, "sweet and lovable," said family friend JoAnn Weeks.
He and his first wife, Dorothy, began their lives together as professional dancers, traveling a circuit from San Francisco to Texas and dancing on cruise liners.
Five years after his first wife died in 1974, he married the former Lura Detwiler, with whom he also traveled and danced.
Mr. Wadman was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Linda Vista for many years.
He is survived by his wife, Lura, of San Diego; daughter Barbara of Utah; sons Richard of Del Mar, Robert of Idaho and William of North Carolina; sisters Grace Carter and Martha Thombs, both of San Diego, and Mae Harven of Anaheim; stepdaughter Janean Marinko of Northern California; 16 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.
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