The city of Fairway, Kansas is home to just over 4,000 people. On a normal day, its neighborhoods are quiet and peaceful and protected by the courageous men and women of the Fairway Police Department. However, in recent months, a normal day has been quiet for a different reason.
On August 7, 2023, the police department lost an officer, the city lost a protector, his family lost a loved one and Lieutenant Mandi Bayless lost a friend.
“I think it’s important how brave Jonah was,” she said. “He really was courageous. I miss that.”
Officer Jonah Oswald responded to a call at a local QuikTrip, where he lost his life in the line of duty at 29 years old.
It was the kind of call he was ready to take at a moment’s notice. As his superior, Lieutenant Bayless remembers the preparation he put into handling those difficult situations as a young officer.
“He has never been afraid to do the right thing. He always wanted to know more and learn how to be a good police officer.”
From day one, Officer Oswald displayed incredible loyalty to the city of Fairway and the police department. Born and raised in San Diego, he moved to the Kansas City area as a teenager to be near his now wife. Through her job at Hi Hat Coffee, she was able to connect Jonah to Fairway Police Chief, J.P. Thurlo. Knowing Fairway was where he wanted to be, he applied to the department without any experience.
“Initially, we told him we wanted him to go get some experience somewhere that was a little busier and then come back and apply at Fairway when he was ready,” Lieutenant Bayless said.
After a few years of Army Reserves in Buckner, Missouri, Jonah stayed true to his heart and reapplied to Fairway in 2019. It did not take long for his infectious personality and humor to filter through the entire department.
“We all loved him,” Lieutenant Bayless said. “He would just come in and start talking in a weird Australian accent for no reason. You would start laughing and couldn't help it. He brought that every day.”
The excitement Jonah had for his job was evident and his eagerness to learn new things earned him the opportunity to become Fairway’s firearms instructor. One of his first calls upon passing the course was to Lieutenant Bayless, who found herself now learning new things from the officer she had a hand in training.
He single-handedly revitalized our firearms program,” she said. “He and I were out there for hours on the range trying to get me familiar with the new platform. I feel like he kinda reignited that excitement in me to be a police officer.”
For Officer Oswald, being a police officer was not just a job, it was who he was. His passion was not only for the community as a whole, but for the individual.
“I had so many stories from people who say he was just so nice and friendly and would connect with the residents,” Lieutenant Bayless said. “He was always a protector. He was always listening.”
The impact he made on the Fairway community was seen during the Parade of Blue, when hundreds of residents showed up to pay tribute to Officer Oswald with flags and salutes. Months later, blue ribbons still hang on the trees lining Shawnee Mission Parkway and wreaths hang on the walls of the Fairway Police Department. Moving on is not easy, and Lieutenant Bayless makes no plans to.
“The department obviously isn’t the same,” she said. “I don’t want us to stop saying his name. I want everyone who ever comes to work for Fairway to know Jonah’s name and legacy.
Officer Oswald will be remembered not only for his incredible acts of service to Fairway, but also for the kind of heart that compels a man to sacrifice his life.
“I don’t know what sprung the need to become a police officer,” she said. “He had this need to serve. Some people, it’s just what their heart is. It was everything he was. That was always what I saw, his heart was a police officer.”