* This story was written the weekend after Oneida County Sheriff's Deputy Kurt Wyman was shot and killed by a man who barricaded himself in his garage for more than six hours. An article relating to the initial event can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/3jtjlrf
KNOXBORO — Melissa McNamara is an active member of the Knoxboro Community Church and a proud wife of a military man.
She also takes pride in the hamlet where she grew up,in the rural town of Augusta.
Saturday afternoon, McNamara and a dozen other people congregated at the church for the parish’s annual chicken barbecue. The group, however, debated whether to delay the event. After Tuesday, residents were more than shaken at what had happened up the hill from them in this southern Oneida County community.
Knoxboro’s residents were awoken late Monday to find that police and firefighters had overrun their corner of the world. They would later learn that Christian Patterson, who moved into the brown house up the hill in 2007 was involved in a lengthy standoff and allegedly shot and killed Oneida County Sheriff’s Deputy Kurt Wyman.
“We need to keep moving forward,” McNamara said. “The church is the hub of the community, and this fundraiser is important to us.”
Wyman’s memorial service is scheduled for Monday morning at the Utica Memorial Auditorium.
Patterson, meanwhile, is at St. Elizabeth Medical Center in Utica in critical condition, although he was recently taken off of a ventilator that aided his breathing. He is expected to be charged with aggravated murder when his condition improves, authorities have said.
In Knoxboro, residents Saturday said they still are in disbelief such a heinous act could happen in their community. After all, the hamlet is where neighbors know and trust each other. Children gather in groups to play tag or hang out at a neighbor’s pool.
“I couldn’t believe it,” resident Robert Reed said. “Not in our town, not here.”
Reed’s family owns 6 acres down the hill from the hamlet’s post office. Reed and his wife, Susan, also happen to be in the process of moving out of their home to be closer to Robert’s son in Michigan.
“It’s beautiful here,” Reed said. “We moved here 32 years ago from Herkimer County because of my job. We were looking for something rural but not as big as the farm we were living on. This is it — we found it here in Knoxboro.”
Reed said that during his time on the property, the family started an apple orchard and planted some 300 trees of various species throughout the property.
Growing older and with the children now grown up, Reed said the property had become more than he can handle. Besides, the more time he could spend with his six grandchildren, the better.
“Summer nights, we would eat out here on the patio and over there is where the children would split wood. There was always something to do outside. We were always busy.”
Prior to Tuesday, Knoxboro was known for its namesake, taken from John Jay Knox, a staunch supporter of the national banking system who held the position of U.S. comptroller of the currency in the 1870s. Locally, he had co-founded the Bank of Verona in 1839.
Residents now hope that the death of Deputy Wyman does not place their hamlet on a map of places cursed by history.
“We just held a Memorial Day celebration for all of the members of the military,” McNamara said. “There are a lot of families here who have members that are serving now or had served before – more than you’d believe.”
A small memorial has been set up at the intersection across the street from the post office for Wyman. More than two dozen people have signed the placard that sits in front of the hamlet’s American flag.
