| Submitted by Gary Knight
I was a boy of about ten when I first met Rex McCartney. He lived about a half a mile above us on Phillips Run, and he would come down the road in his big flatbed, cross the wooden bridge and go up into the woods to cut timber. On his way back, fully loaded, he would often stop and shut down his truck and talk to me for a few minutes. I always wondered why as I didn't know him that well.
As the years passed, I grew and became, like most young men my age, a little more full of myself than I should have been. I graduated, went away to service and came back with my Dodge Charger that I thought was pretty hot stuff. Rex McCartney issued me my first ticket. Not getting along very well with the police at that time seemed like the thing to do as they represent "the establishment" and its corrupt authority. Following another run in or two with The Grantsville Police Department, I had pretty much decided that Rex and his crew were worthy of a great deal of disdain and disrespect which I poured upon them abundantly.
Time passed, and, when I had become somewhat more settled and sensible, Rex and I began exchanging cordialities on the street when we would meet. One evening, Rex stopped by my house. I went out to deal with whatever had brought him by. He looked at me and asked me a question that almost knocked me over. He asked, "Would you be interested in being on the city police department?" Once I had shaken off the shock, I considered the fact that, since I was in college, I could use the extra income so I told him I would I started with The Grantsville Police Department in January, 1979.
This, in many ways, turned out to be one of the most fortunate events in my life. Under Rex's guidance, I learned about the law, law enforcement and what police work in a small town should be. Being a small town police officer required a certain demeanor, approach, and style.
I don't believe I ever met anyone with a more sincere interest and commitment to the town's well being than was Chief Rex McCartney. With him, the town was always first, and he expected that from all of his officers. There was a loyalty there that remained with him for years, I know, after his retirement.
Rex had come from the old school. He had been Grantsville's only officer in the days when Grantsville was larger, more vibrant, and more boisterous than it has been in many years, decades even. He alone provided the most stability the town had going for it with his thirty-two years of solid and dependable service amidst the comings and goings of several mayors and other city government officers.
In those days, there were three of four beer taverns operating simultaneously in town; young people came from all over to demonstrate their racing, drinking and fighting skills in Grantsville where there was a larger audience. Rex held his ground alone many times in the name of law, peace and good order.
As the town became more sedate and times changed, Rex changed and adapted. He stayed well versed in law and police procedure throughout his tenure and he remained true to proper police procedure and conduct.
Rex was intelligent, insightful, and wise. He was often a positive mentor to those who were listening. He was very analytical with a keen ability to assess and cut to the quick of the matter. I never knew him to display an error in judgment.
I also served with him on the Calhoun Hospital Board when he served as its president. He was not there for attention or notoriety. He was there to serve, and, in the early '80's, the progress the hospital made from a highly exploited and nearly decimated institution was remarkable.
Rex didn't want any accolades for his service. He wanted no speeches or medals. He was once the Parade Marshal in the Wood Festival Parade, and I am sure that that made him proud; it did me.
Rex was a strong man, both physically and in character. The county has seen a number of true and loyal servants over the years, but none, I'll wager, more true and loyal than was Rex McCartney.
This community knows little of what Rex gave to it from his own time and his own pocket mainly because he didn't want it known. I know from my own experiences and observations that the list is extensive. But, the material things and the time were not all. He could see the good in everyone and everything. He truly epitomized and exemplified all that a small town police officer should be. There are many who can attest to the second chances he gave them and the benefit it was to them.
It is a rare police officer who has the utmost respect of those whom him he has had altercations or even made arrests. Rex had that respect. He was, for thirty-two years, a Grantsville institution, in many ways, its only continuity and stability.
He was the law when law was really needed. He was the keeper of peace and good order when those who would disturb those things were more plentiful and more committed to disruption and disorder.
Chief Rex McCartney, who also served with The Calhoun Sheriff's Department and The Clendenin Police Department after his retirement from Grantsville, was, in many ways, the last of the great small town officers whom Grantsville has seen or may see in many, many years to come.
Rex was preceded in death by his wife, Faustine, who was also a great community servant.
Their loved ones can be proud of who they were.
Emily Dickinson wrote:
"Parting is all we know of heaven
And all we need of hell"
We know and must accept that parting is a necessary step toward Heaven. The hell is the sense of irretrievable loss and what has been forever taken away. Many of us who knew Rex and Faustine and were touched in some way by them, if we are fortunate, will remember and be richer for what they left us. | 
