Prior to two weeks ago, it had always been believed that no sworn member of the Summit County Sheriff’s Office had ever lost their life due to injuries sustained while on duty. That was before Sheriff Steve Barry conducted a casual review of the Officer Down Memorial website and uncovered startling evidence to the contrary. On Sunday morning, July 16, 1933, Summit County Sheriff’s Deputy Rex Faux died from injuries sustained in an automobile crash that occurred on Akron-Wadsworth Road while he and Deputy Francis Kidder were returning from a search for two gas station robbers. Deputy Faux sustained mortal injuries in the crash, and died at 11:05 in St. Thomas Hospital. Deputy Kidder would later recover from a broken arm and cuts to his head and feet. Somehow, and unbelievably, news of this tragedy became lost to time, and word of it had never circulated among past or present personnel. Thus, a mystery 87 years in the making. Thanks to the determined efforts of Sheriff Steve Barry, his Director of Strategic Media Paul Matulavich, Akron-Summit County Public Library Special Collections Division Manager Mary Plazo, and Summit County Medical Examiner Lisa Kohler, we have confirmed this information and have newspaper articles recounting this sad event. (see attached photos) In honor of this long lost member of our roster, it is our wish to finally place a fitting tribute to Deputy Rex Faux, and we are inviting anyone (relatives, friends of the deputy’s family, etc.) who has further information about Deputy Rex Faux to please contact Paul Matulavich (330-643-2570) or email him (pmatulavich@sheriff.summitoh.net). Thank you!
