Const. Roger Pierlet and his brother talked about the possibility of the Surrey Mountie being killed in action the year before he was gunned down in Cloverdale.
Apart for a decade, Luke Pierlet was reunited with Roger in Vancouver in 1973. The two talked a lot about Roger's job as an RCMP officer and how dangerous it was. Luke even asked him if he was worried about getting killed.
"He said, 'well, that comes with the job,' " Luke said in an interview with The Leader Monday. "We certainly never imagined it was going to happen."
It was almost a year later, on March 29, 1974, when 23-year-old Roger Pierlet was on his last shift before being married.
He was working the Pattullo Bridge detachment, and was having car troubles, so he drove to the main detachment in Cloverdale to swap vehicles.
When he left, he saw a car driving erratically, and pulled it over.
Inside the vehicle was John Harvey Miller, who held police responsible for the death of his brother in a high-speed pursuit the year before.
The passenger in Miller's vehicle levelled a rifle and shot Pierlet in the chest, killing him.
An overpass on 176 Street near Highway 10 was later dedicated in Pierlet's name.
The dedication plaques were stolen from the bridge in July, 2006 and two weeks ago, the overpass was re-dedicated with new marble plaques.
Luke was there.
"For me it was a reminder of the dedication my brother had to what he was doing," Luke said Monday. "He loved being an RCMP officer and he gave his life for it."