CHAMPAIGN — Some retired Champaign police officers were surprised to learn that the city's first black police officer is buried in an unmarked grave at Mount Hope Cemetery.

So they're raising money to buy a gravestone.

Retired Champaign patrolman Stan Earle was recently chatting with retired Champaign police Officer Dave Godwin about looking up gravesites on the Internet.

"I do a lot of genealogy work and go to cemeteries and photograph headstones for people," Godwin said.

"Dave suggested we begin researching the graves of Champaign police officers," Earle said.

When the men searched for the grave of Sgt. Allen A. Rivers Sr. and visited it at Mount Hope Cemetery, they were surprised to learn that there was no marker.

Sgt. Rivers became Champaign's first black police officer on Aug. 4, 1935. He retired on Aug. 1, 1960, and died in 1989.

"He was one heck of a nice man," Godwin said.

"Any person you talk to will tell you that Sgt. Rivers was a class act," Earle said.

Earle said the two men and three other retired Champaign police officers — C.W. Kinney, Don Rinehart and Zane Ziegler — decided to form a committee to raise money to buy a gravestone for Sgt. Rivers.

"We have contacted the family, and they are appreciative of this effort," Earle said.

Earle said donations may be sent to the Allen A. Rivers Sr. Memorial Fund at First Federal Savings Bank, 1311 S. Neil St., C.

Earle said the committee hopes to raise $1,500 for the gravestone and installation.

"We're hoping to get one big enough to put the names of his children on it and an engraved photograph of him in his Champaign police uniform," Godwin said.

Any money raised over the cost of the gravestone will be used to purchase a memorial for Sgt. Rivers' second wife, Ellyn B. Rivers, who also does not have a grave marker, and to make other improvements at the grave site.

"Sgt. Rivers was a wonderful man who left a positive imprint on the community, and this is a way to honor him," Earle said.