MILLET — An Alberta Mountie killed in a highway traffic accident had a childhood dream of becoming a policeman and persevered despite several rejections.
Const. James Lundblad, 41, of Valleyview, died Tuesday when a grain truck collided with his cruiser as he was making a U-turn to intercept another vehicle.
He had been with the Mounties for almost eight years.
“He was very passionate about his job,” said his uncle Randy Lundblad. “I have nothing but good to say about him.”
Lundblad said his nephew always wanted to join a police force and applied for several years to various detachments.
His uncle, who lives in Kaslo, B.C., was behind him the whole way.
“I said to him, ‘I know a guy like you will get in sooner or later.”
Eventually, he did, and in 2001 he joined the RCMP’s detachment in Edson, where he worked as a general frontline officer.
“When he finally got in we were so happy for him. He finally made it.”
About 1 1/2 years ago, he transferred to Camrose, southeast of Edmonton, where he worked in the traffic services unit.
“He was very much liked and very well respected,” said RCMP spokesman Cpl. Wayne Oakes.
“There’s obviously a lot of raw emotion with the people who knew him, the people who loved him.”
Funeral arrangements were still being made, Oakes said Wednesday.
Lundblad’s death came a day before a Saskatchewan
RCMP officer died in a traffic accident.
The 34-year-old Mountie from the Craik detachment was off-duty and driving his own car when it was hit by a semi-trailer unit early Wednesday.