Harvey S. Nyland
September 21, 1930 – June 22, 2008
Harvey S. Nyland, retired San Benito County Sheriff, passed away on June 22, 2008 at his home in San Juan Bautista after a battle with Lewy Body Dementia. Harvey is survived by his wife, Gladys; four children, Sandra Nyland, Susan McCullough, John Nyland, and Barbara Khozam; and 7 grandchildren. Visitation will be at the Grunnagle-Ament-Nelson Funeral Home, 870 San Benito St., Hollister, Sunday, June 29th, from Noon to 7:00 P.M. with a Rosary service to be offered at 6:00 P.M. The Funeral procession will leave the funeral home on Monday at 11:00 A.M. and proceed to Old Mission San Juan Bautista for a funeral Mass commencing at 12 Noon. Burial will follow the Mass at San Juan Cemetery.
The youngest son of Arthur S. Nyland and Ruby O’Connor Nyland, descendents of the Breen Family that came to California with the ill-fated Donner Party during the Gold Rush days, Harvey was born in Hollister and lived on the corner of 7th and West Streets in Hollister with his older brother Robert and older sister Dorothy. In 1940, Harvey moved to San Juan Bautista after his father built a new home to be closer to his growing ranch that included a herd of beef cattle, a farm that produced sugar beets, garlic, potatoes, and lettuce, and eventually race horses. Harvey attended San Juan Union Grammar School until the 8th grade, and then Hollister High School where he played basketball, ran the high hurdles and high jumped, and played clarinet in the marching band. It was in high school that Harvey started his love affair with cars – not only running into a car on his bike knocking out his 3 front teeth, but also getting his first car to drive – a 1936 Plymouth 2 door coupe. In his later years, Harvey would eventually own and completely restore a yellow 2 door 1957 Chevrolet that in August 2007 carried his newly married daughter Barbara to her wedding reception.
Harvey enrolled at Santa Clara University in the fall of 1948, majoring in History. At Santa Clara, Harvey became involved in various activities including R.O.T.C, Varsity basketball, acting, and worked at home on his father’s ranch during the summers. After his Junior year in college, Harvey went on a 3 month Holy Year Tour to Europe that included a 7 day boat trip across the Atlantic, seeing sights in Ireland, London, France, Spain, and Italy, with the highlight being part of an audience with Pope Pius XII. After graduating from Santa Clara University in 1952 with a B.S. in History, Harvey intended to go to law school, but instead went back to his Dad’s ranch in San Juan. For the next seven years, after his ranch duties were done, Harvey would ride with Sheriff’s deputies and Hollister police officers as a reserve. On June 17, 1956, Harvey married Gladys, his wife of 52 years, whom he met at the Golden Gate Tip Toppers Club, a social organization for men over 6 ft 3 inches and women more than 6 feet tall. In 1960, Harvey landed a full time job as one of two police officers in San Juan Bautista where he had to buy his own uniform, service revolver and ammunition.
In 1963, Harvey transferred to the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office, where he would spend the next 23 years and earn a reputation for efficiency and honesty – including a story about once citing himself for speeding. His career at the Monterey Country Sheriff’s department included 4 years as Patrol Deputy Sheriff; 2 years as a Patrol Sergeant; 3 years as the Training Division Commander; 5 years as Lieutenant, Civil Division; 2 years as Captain, Monterey Sub-Station; 1 year as Captain, Administration Division; and 6 years as Chief Deputy Corrections. During these years working for Monterey Country, he also attended graduate school at Golden Gate University (Monterey), the FBI National Academy (Quantico, Virginia), and the National Academy of Corrections (Boulder, Colorado).
In 1986, turmoil in the San Benito Country Sheriff’s department prompted a number of residents there to approach Harvey about running for Sheriff. On a limited budget that included making his own campaign signs and materials, many hours of door to door campaigning, and name recognition, Harvey entered the Sheriff’s race against four other candidates and won a narrow victory in the June primary. For the next 12 years as Sheriff, Harvey enjoyed trying to help people and point them in the right direction – including having his number in the telephone book so that anyone could call him at all times of the day and night with problems. He considered some of his greatest accomplishments as Sheriff to be the formation of a Regional Drug Task Force called U-NET, the construction and opening of the new jail on Flynn Road in 1992, implementing a Community Oriented Policing Program in San Juan Bautista in 1995. He also started several other programs in the Sheriff’s Department that include the Canine Program, Crime Prevention Program, Career Criminal Apprehension Program, among others. Harvey retired from the San Benito Sheriff’s Department in 1998, although continued to help support the Sheriff’s Department by managing the radar trailer used around San Juan Bautista.
Throughout his life, Harvey was always involved in various community activities and organizations – that included not only supporting any community event where his help was needed, but also offering to park cars during these events on his ranch property in San Juan. He served San Juan Bautista as mayor, member of the city council, and volunteer fire department member, and member of the Rotary Club. He was a member of the Hollister Elks, San Benito Country Cattlemen’s Association, Hollister Knight’s of Columbus, and the Sons In Retirement (SIRs). In his spare time, Harvey worked to maintain the ranch left to him by his father, traveled, and enjoyed spending time with his grandchildren.
In lieu of flowers, kindly send a donation to the Lewy Body Dementia Association Inc.
LBDA
P.O. Box 451429
Atlanta, Georgia 31145-9429
404-935-6444
www.lewybodydementia.org
In the early 1900’s while researching Parkinson’s disease, the scientist Friederich H Lewy discovered abnormal protein deposits that disrupt the brain’s normal functions. Lewy Body dementia (LBD) is a progressive brain disease and the second leading cause of degenerative dementia in the elderly. The clinical name “dementia with Lewy bodies” (DLB) accounts for up to 20 % of the dementia cases, or 800,000 patients in the US. Over 50% of Parkinson’s disease patients develop “Parkinson’s disease dementia” (PDD), which accounts for at least 750,000 patients. (PDD is also Lewy body dementia.) At this time the only way to definitively diagnose this disease is after the patient dies and there is no cure.
