RIP Trooper Richard Clemens

Who has not scene this classic from Norman Rockwell. A runaway child with his bag on the floor, a concerned cop next to him. The look on the face of "I know what you're up to" on the trooper's face.

Regretfully the cop has passed on.

NANCY PALMIERI FOR THE BOSTON GLOBE/FILE

Richard Clemens with ‘‘The Runaway’’ at the Norman Rockwell Museum in 2001. He was Rockwell’s neighbor when he posed.

Officer in iconic Rockwell work dies

Richard Clemens often said that Norman Rockwell had a gift for showing the world not as it was, but as it ought to be.

But when the artist painted Clemens, a Massachusetts state trooper who posed for Rockwell’s iconic illustration of a police officer helping a young runaway, he captured his true essence, his daughter said Monday.

“I don’t think Rockwell could have chosen a more appropriate model,’’ said Mary Blaauboer. “It’s a symbol of police officers and how they help people. But it symbolized my father as a person, too. It showed his heart, and his whole life.’’

Clemens, who became a decorated police officer after serving in the military during wartime, died Sunday. He was 83.

Clemens was a 29-year-old trooper when Rockwell, his Stockbridge neighbor, asked him to pose for “The Runaway,’’ which depicts a police officer sitting at a diner beside a young boy with a knapsack under his stool.

It appeared on the cover of “The Saturday Evening Post’’ in 1958, and became a quintessential image of small-town life that adorns countless police departments to this day.

“Rockwell’s painting sums up this truth: An officer is never so tall as when he stoops to help a child,’’ the Massachusetts State Police wrote online. “Trooper Clemens greeted everyone in his humble way, with a constant smile, a firm handshake, and a warm hello.’’

As a state trooper, Clemens received an award for outstanding police service and a medal for bravery from the Massachusetts Humane society, his family said. He retired in 1975, then began a career in industrial security at General Electric...

Marian McGovern, superintendent of the State Police, recalled Clemens as a “true gentleman,’’ whose image stands for the “very best of what a police officer should be.’’

“The painting of a trooper bending over in counsel to a young boy intent on leaving home captures - much more than any of the images of shootouts and car chases favored by popular culture - the highest ideal of police work: helping someone in need at a vulnerable moment,’’ she said.

Born in 1928 in New York City, Clemens moved to Stockbridge in 1944. Two years later, he joined the Marines, and later served during the Korean War. He was a police officer in Virginia before joining the State Police, his family said.

Over the years, Clemens attended many events celebrating his role in the painting, often with Ed Locke, who posed for the 8-year-old runaway. As if continuing the moment captured on canvas, the two became good friends and built a skilled rapport in recounting their experience with Rockwell.

“They developed a great friendship,’’ said Jeremy Clowe of the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge. “They had a great camaraderie, and were happy to share their memories.’’...

Although Rockwell conducted a nationwide search to find the right model, I love the fact he picked his man. Mainly because I love the fact a very successful artist from the time would have as a neighbor a state trooper. Pure Americana.

Rest In Peace Trooper Clemens. Your image inspired many an officer on a duty that is often not scene by the public but really gives a cop some pride.