This whimsical playground with several lion statues (and a lion water fountain!) scattered around is a fitting memorial to Chief Maddox, a dedicated public servant loved by all. The playground was a project of the Lions Club of Childress Texas.
From the Officer Down website: (
visit link)
"Alvis F. "Tuffy" Maddox
Childress Police Department, Texas
End of Watch: Sunday, June 22, 1980
Chief Maddox succumbed to injuries sustained two months earlier when his patrol car collided with a lumber truck on Highway 287. He was transported to a hospital in Amarillo and later died of his injuries.
Chief Maddox had been in law enforcement for 44 years and had been elected police chief of Childress 11 times. He was survived by his wife and son."
From the Find A grave website, we have Chief Maddox's obituary: (
visit link)
"Alvis F "Tuffy" Maddox
Birth: Sep. 9, 1909
Calvin, Hughes County, Oklahoma, USA
Death: Jun. 22, 1980
Amarillo, Potter County, Texas, USA
Childress Police Chief Alvis F (Tuffy) Maddox, 70, died in an Amarillo Hospital Sunday, June 22 of an apparent heart attack. He was injured in a police-truck collision in Childress April 29, while on duty when he apparently tried to cut in front of a truck hauling grain.
Maddox grew up in Wellington, working in the wagon yard operated by his father, Dempsey Maddox, located just east of Singley Mill and Elevator. He moved to Childress from Wellington in 1936, and joined
the Childress Police department. He returned to the police force in 1948, after service as a military policeman in the Army during World War II. Maddox was one of two elected police chiefs in Texas and was first elected in 1958, altogether he was elected to the office 11 times.
Maddox was born in Calvin, Oklahoma, September 9, 1909 the son of Dempsey and Eudoxie Corley Maddox. He was married to Fern Payne on March 17, 1951 at White Pace.
The qualities that Wellington friends remember about Maddox are that he was a good officer and when he went out to arrest someone, he was completely unafraid. "He didn't lie to anyone and he didn't want anyone lying to him," said Alvin Horton, a long-time friend. A hard
worker, he was dedicated to his job, and was a great favorite among Childress children.
Funeral services were conducted Tuesday, at 4 pm in First Methodist Church, Childress. The Rev James Price, pastor and the Rev R H Knight, retired Methodist clergyman, officated and burial was in Childress Cemetery by Newberry Funeral Home.
Survivors are his wife; a grandson, Alvis Payne, whom he raised; three brothers, Jess Maddox and Bryant Maddox of Amarillo and Clifton Maddox of El Reno, Oklahoma four sisters, Mrs, Maudie Simmons of Amarillo, Mrs Ruby Ingram of Salinas, California, Mrs, Johnnie Whisnant of DeQueen, Arkansas; and Mrs, Vess Barnes of Moscow, Texas, Among the relatives living here is Mrs Mattie Maddox an aunt.
THE WELLINGTON (TEXAS) LEADER
Thursday, June 26.1980"