This Veterans Day is the perfect time to celebrate the life of James Robert Leavelle, U.S. Navy veteran and former Dallas Police Department detective. His recent death brought sadness and grief to so many and prompted heartfelt tributes and memories of the respected detective.
Born Aug. 23, 1920, in Red River County, Texas, Leavelle passed away Aug. 29, 2019 at the age of 99.
He entered the Navy in 1939 at the age of 20 and was aboard the USS Whitney, about a mile from Pearl Harbor, during the December 7, 1941 attack. He was among the first sailors at Pearl Harbor to see Japanese planes attacking the U.S. fleet.
The USS Whitney left Pearl Harbor in 1942 and while headed to the South Pacific, ran into a severe storm. During the storm, Leavelle was going down a ladder when a large wave threw him to the deck. The impact caused serious damage to his knees and he was taken to a hospital near Oakland, California. It was there that he met his future wife, Navy nurse Lt. Taimi Snelma.
After leaving the Navy, Leavelle continued to serve, working for the Veterans Administration.
A few years after their marriage, in the late 1940s, Leavelle and his wife moved to Dallas. He became a police officer where he worked his way up to homicide detective. He later achieved fame as the officer escorting Lee Harvey Oswald, John F. Kennedy’s assassin, through the Dallas PD’s basement when Oswald was shot by Jack Ruby.
Photo by Robert Jackson, Dallas Times Herald Photographer, 1964. He won a Pulitzer Prize for photo.
Leavelle investigated numerous homicides, but none were as widely known as the Kennedy assassination. The detective, after an extensive investigation, concluded that Oswald acted alone in the killing of President Kennedy and held that opinion for the rest of his life.
He retired from the Dallas PD in 1976. He then opened a polygraph company.
His wife died in Garland in 2014. Leavelle lived the rest of his life in Garland and remained active into his late 90s. The couple had three children, three grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
His funeral service was held at New Liberty Baptist Church in Garland Saturday, Sept. 7. Visitation was held at Garland’s Williams Funeral Directors.
Leavelle was a life member of Garland’s American Legion Post 23. He also served on the board of the Garland Crime Stoppers organization. He went on numerous speaking engagements and attended many World War II veterans’ events throughout his retirement.
The Dallas Police Department honored him with commendations and renamed the detective of the year award for him.