OPD, City mourns Mondragon

Tuesday was a somber day around the Orland Police Department after the staff learned of the death of retired OPD Officer Nick Mondragon.

Police Chief Bob Pasero said while the death was not unexpected, no amount of preparation could really make it easier to take.

"It's been pretty subdued around our office since we got the news,'' he said. "The (Mondragon) family is doing as well as can be expected.''

Mondragon suffered from a rare cancer called Liposarcoma, and he had to retire in November, 2007 following 14 years of battling the disease.

The illness left him wheelchair bound, but Mondragon did make an appearance at a benefit for his family hosted by the Orland Peace Officers Association in December.  He also received a plaque of appreciation for his service.

Mondragon had been a patrol officer with Orland PD for seven years, and he was very popular in the community, Pasero said.

A master mechanic, Mondragon changed careers after living in Orland for 11 years before becoming an officer.

A strong family man, Mondragon is survived by his wife, Sherri, and two teenaged children, Sarah, and Jesse.

He died at his Orland residence surrounded by his family, Pasero said. "It was where he wanted to be. Home was his favorite place in the world.''
Pasero said Mondragon's "brilliant smile will always be with me,'' and that is one thing he will remember about him forever. "When he smiled, the room lit up. He had a magnetic smile.''

Janene Rehse works with Pasero and the officers in the OPD office, and she echoed Pasero's impressions of Mondragon.

"He loved being a police officer,'' Rehse said. "It was a mid-life change of career for him, but it was a goal in life that he wanted to achieve. But it was too short.''

Pasero added Mondragon was a compassionate man whose caring for people could not be trained into an officer.

Mondragon had a ball when shooting the OPD trading cards a few years ago in Library Park, the chief said.

There were a couple of young boys in the park watching the photo shoot, he said, and Mondragon talked with them and got them to pose for a picture with him.

"Three words sum up Nick,'' Pasero said. Mondragon's favorite saying was "It's all good.''

Jessica Le Day is another office staff member who has fond memories of Mondragon.

"He never had a bad day,'' Le Day said. "And if he did, he never told us. It was always it's all good, no matter what happened.''

Pasero recalled Mondragon was a person who wanted to get the job done right. For example, when he worked for a Chico auto dealership a few years ago, he helped a customer find out what was rattling in his car when it made a turn.

Nobody could figure out what was causing it, Pasero said, so Mondragon  got inside the trunk and had someone drive him around town to see where the rattle orginated. Then, he took the trunk apart on his own time and found an assembly worker had left a plastic bottle half filled with sand inside the fender of the car, and that was what made the noise.

It was that dedication Mondragon brought to his police work, the chief said.

"He was a great guy,'' Pasero said. "I don't think anybody would have a bad thing to say about him. I don't think I can say that about anybody else.''

Officer Sean Johnson said in December Mondragon was probably the most giving person he had ever met and went out of his way to help others.
Mondragon also was the only bilingual police officer on the force and educated the Hispanic community about law enforcement and encouraged them to call for assistance, Johnson said.

Sgt. J.C. Tolle described Mondragon as a mentor for all police officers whose patience and dedication were exemplary.

About 750 to 800 people turned out for Mondragon's benefit dinner Dec. 16, 2007 and an estimated $20,000 was raised, according to OPD officials, from the meal and raffles of donated gift items like baskets, tires, golf games and more.

Funeral plans are pending, and Pasero said he will make an announcement when things are finalized.