Kids in Edgewood are honoring Deputy Calata with teddy bears. First one is for his son

At the time, Mountain View Elementary Principal Judy Piger didn’t realize the weight of the memories being made, or how bittersweet and lasting they’d be.

All she saw were students at her school playing basketball at recess with Pierce County Sheriff’s Deputy Dominique Calata and his colleague, school resource officer Carly Cappetto.

Piger saw the excitement on childrens’ faces, and the way Calata — who went by Dom — interacted with the kids, answering every question and making time for each of them. She saw the way he put them at ease, and the way their shyness and apprehension melted away in his presence.

Calata was at Mountain View — in Edgewood, where he was assigned — for an assembly kicking off the school’s annual “March Gladness” service project. This year, Mountain View decided to collect teddy bears and blankets for the small city’s police department to distribute to children while responding to 911 calls that can often be scary and traumatic. Cappetto — a Pierce County Sheriff’s deputy who serves as a resource officer at eight Puyallup School District schools, including Mountain View — said she knew Calata would be a perfect ambassador for the cause.

What no one knew was that Deputy Calata’s time was short, or that one of the teddy bears they collected would end up in the arms of his young son.

Five days later, the 35-year-old husband, father and SWAT team member died from gunshot wounds sustained while serving a warrant on a convicted felon in Spanaway.

On Friday, Pierce County will honor and mourn Calata during a public procession culminating in a celebration of life ceremony at the Church for all Nations, 111 112th St. East in Tacoma. It will offer all of us an opportunity to pay tribute to a fallen law enforcement officer who made the ultimate sacrifice, while also reflecting on the legacy Calata leaves behind.

When it comes to Calata’s legacy, in the days since his tragic death one thing has become clear:

Calata’s recent visit to Mountain View stands as just one of many small, shining examples of the person he was and the impact he made on our community, particularly young people.

According to Piger and Cappetto, Calata was no stranger to Mountain View. He looked forward to opportunities to spend time with the children and had a knack for connecting with them, often kneeling so he was on their level, they said.

Looking back on Calata’s March 11 visit, she remembers an accomplished law enforcement officer who had been with the Sheriff’s Department for 6-1/2 years — and served five years in the U.S. Army — who still seemed to be at his best when he was around children.

“Dom had the same opinion that I do. We both felt that these interactions with the kids at school were probably more valuable than any other interaction that they would have in their lifetime with a police officer,” Cappetto said. “He was so natural with them. He just knew how to talk to them, and he’d be silly with them. Even if their questions were outrageously funny, he would answer them so seriously, and give the kids the attention they were longing for.”

Piger, who has been the principal at Mountain View for three years, said that the school decided to collect teddy bears and blankets during this year’s “March Gladness” service project after realizing how important they can be during times of need. When a police officer has something to offer a child, it can make a traumatic experience a little bit easier, she believes, describing it as a cause that “touched my heart.” Originally scheduled to end this week, Piger said Mountain View recently decided to extend the drive until March 29.

Discussing the school’s efforts, Piger said it wasn’t hard to imagine some of the items collected eventually ending up with a student at the school. Earlier this year, several Mountain View families were displaced by a fire, she recalled, and it “would have been great to have given them a blanket to help them through that time,” she said.

Just days after Calata’s visit to Mountain View, what’s far more difficult for Piger to fathom is that one of the teddy bears the school collected was delivered to his 4-year-old son.

It’s a small, brownish-orange bear — the kind that looks warm and soft to the squeeze — and after hearing the news of Calata’s shooting, Piger said Mountain View’s staff quickly knew where it should go.

It’s the bear Calata was photographed with on the day of the school’s assembly, Piger said.

“We just wanted to show our support as a Mountain View Elementary staff,” Piger said, recalling how employees and volunteers at the school immediately began putting together food baskets to deliver to the local police department.

“Looking at the bears and blankets, we realized, ‘Oh my, here we have a little boy who now possibly doesn’t have his father. He’s going to be the first recipient of a bear and a blanket,’” Piger continued. “I saw the bear, and it was like, ‘We have to give it to him.’ So we put it in a little sack with a blanket, and that little package was for that little guy. … The next morning (received a message) saying it had been put into a police car and was going to be delivered to his home and given to his wife and his son.”

According to Piger, Mountain View plans to collect as many teddy bears and blankets as it can until next week when the school will donate them to the Edgewood Police Department. When she spoke to The News Tribune, she said there were roughly five tables full.

She’s hoping for more, and said that — if the school collects enough — distribution will be expanded to other law enforcement agencies in the area.

As Pierce County grieves, it’s one small gesture among many.

It also feels like one Deputy Calata would appreciate.

“Our hearts are very, very heavy,” Piger said.

“Our focus now is on honoring him, and being thoughtful of his legacy and the impact he had, even though he had a short time with us.”

News Tribune editorials reflect the views of our Editorial Board and are written by opinion editor Matt Driscoll. Other board members are: Stephanie Pedersen, News Tribune president and editor and Jim Walton, community representative.

This story was originally published March 25, 2022 at 5:00 AM.