OCALA, FL (352today.com) – Three years ago today, October 25, Deputy Police Chief Mike Balken received a call from an Ocala Police Department (OPD) watch commander: there had been a plane crash and the aircraft possibly belonged to Police Chief Greg Graham.

Unfortunately, upon further investigation, it was determined that it was, indeed, Chief Graham who had been the only person aboard the plane.  Balken, who was appointed police chief after Graham’s death, was one of the first at the crash site off West State Road 40 near 140th Avenue in Dunnellon. It had been Chief Graham’s wish to elevate his second-in-command to Chief once he retired.

Chief Graham was flying his Cessna 172 Skyhawk when it crashed, later to be determined by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) as the result of “a total loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion.”

Chief Graham wasn’t just Ocala’s top cop, he was a husband and father; as well as a good friend and mentor to many in our community.

Mayor-Elect Ben Marciano, owner of Zone Health and Fitness in Ocala, told us that Chief Graham was the “ultimate servant.”

“He had a treadmill that he walked on, and it was his treadmill. I mean, we have 30 treadmills [at the Pine Plaza Shopping Center location] and Greg would only walk on this one treadmill,” Mayor-Elect Marciano reminisces.  “So, if something was wrong with it, he would text me and I’d say, ‘Well, go pick one of the other 29.’  He wouldn’t.  So, we dedicated a treadmill in his memory. There is a picture of him on it and a story about him.  So, if you want to come in, you can walk on that treadmill.”

READ: Meet Mayor-Elect Ben Marciano

In a press conference shortly after Chief Graham’s passing, longtime Ocala Mayor Kent Guinn said, “He’s done such a great job for our community.”  Mayor Guinn was in North Carolina when he received the news.

K-Country’s Mr. Bob was at the Chief Greg Graham Legacy Walk in 2021 at Zone | Video courtesy of 93.7 K-Country

The Chief Greg Graham Legacy Foundation was established in his honor and provides funding for scholarships and community programs like the Boys and Girls Club of Marion County, and also focuses on building awareness around mental health illness and addiction, two things Mayor-Elect Marciano says were Chief Graham’s passions.