RESERVE DEPUTY CHIEF FRANK DYTRICH

SDPD 1962 - 05/27/1989

11/20/1934 - 05/27/1989

Frank Dytrich, the only police reservist to hold the rank of deputy chief in the San Diego Police Department, has died after a two-year battle with cancer.

Mr. Dytrich, 54, died at his Del Cerro home Saturday. He was known within the department as a soft-spoken administrator who kept in touch with the officers on the street.

"Frank was respected by the entire department as a leader and a human being," department spokesman Bill Robinson said yesterday. In recent years, with the advent of tougher reserve training standards, the number of reservists had been dwindling. But Mr. Dytrich, who worked without pay for the department, was striving to restore the ranks to the full 400 officers authorized by the City Council, Robinson said.

Mr. Dytrich, who was born in Taylor, Texas, retired from the Navy in March 1967. He joined the police reserves in September 1962 and rose in the ranks, becoming the first reserve ever named deputy chief of the department in August 1983.

Former Police Chief Bill Kolender remembered Mr. Dytrich as "a dedicated law enforcement officer" who did an "excellent job and motivated a lot of volunteers."

Kolender said Mr. Dytrich "never got excited. He was a fine gentleman, a quiet, personable guy.

"He took over the police reserves, first as a commander, and then I reorganized and made him deputy chief. He was the head of the reserves my entire 13 years as chief," Kolender said.

Despite his illness, Mr. Dytrich remained active "working in police headquarters and at command posts in the fields," Robinson said. Mr. Dytrich, who worked as an electronics technician after retiring from the Navy, is survived by his wife, Jan, and two sons, Fred Ramsey and Joe Ramsey, both of Los Angeles.

THE THIN BLUE LINE

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