Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : Overpass Named for Quake Victim : Memorial: Family, friends and officials remember the LAPD officer who died at freeway interchange.

Calling him a hero who made the ultimate sacrifice in his effort to serve the public, officials Thursday honored the LAPD motorcycle officer who fell to his death from the collapsed Golden State-Antelope Valley freeway interchange during the Northridge earthquake by giving the rebuilt overpass his name.

Clarence Wayne Dean, a 26-year veteran of the Los Angeles Police Department, was rushing on his police motorcycle from his home in Lancaster to report for emergency duty when he drove off the severed freeway.

With the interchange in the background, Assemblyman Richard Katz (D-Sylmar) and Los Angeles Police Chief Willie L. Williams unveiled the first of three signs that are being erected this month to mark the “Clarence Wayne Dean Memorial Interchange.”

“While many of us were literally shaking in our homes, wondering what was going to come next, Officer Dean’s first thoughts were of his job and serving the people of Los Angeles,” Katz said, speaking to an audience of about 100 LAPD officers gathered near the sign on the shoulder of the Antelope Valley Freeway.

“I’m sorry I never got a chance to meet Officer Dean,” he said.

Katz sponsored the resolution to rename the interchange after he was approached by the Los Angeles Police Protective League, which is paying for the three markers. State lawmakers approved the measure in July.

Chief Williams praised Dean as demonstrating the best qualities of an LAPD officer, and admonished critics of the department to remember that officers sometimes perform the “ultimate sacrifice.”

“As we travel these roads,” Williams said, “let us always remember Clarence Wayne Dean.”

The ceremony, attended by the officer’s family and friends, included a processional led by 46 motorcycle officers, many of whom briefly sounded their sirens as they passed.

Several motorists, noticing the sign and large group of police officers, honked and waved as they drove by.

Ruth Dean, the officer’s mother, was presented with the Assembly resolution. She spoke briefly, fighting back tears.

“He was a wonderful son, officer, friend, to so many people,” she said. “He will be missed. He has been missed for several months.”

The two other signs are to be installed along the Golden State Freeway this week by the California Department of Transportation.