BY NICHOLAS BROWN

People throughout Hooksett and beyond knew James Oliver as a street-savvy, straight-talking policeman.

But his friends and family also knew him as a man who loved repeatedly watching “The Lion King” with his grandchildren, as someone who called his wife twice a day to say he loved her, and as someone who would do lawn work when he was stressed out.

Scores of people, including uniformed police officers, gathered at the Congregational Church of Hooksett on Saturday, March 24, to remember Oliver, Hooksett’s longtime police chief, who died March 19 after surgery related to recently diagnosed cancer.

“In my opinion, he was the personification of a diamond in the rough,” said Oliver’s son, James Oliver Jr.

Oliver, 69, was Hooksett’s police chief for 21 years, a threeterm state representative and a U.S. Army veteran. He came to Hooksett after 16 years in the New York City Police Department, where he worked as an undercover detective.

James Oliver Jr. said his father’s “tough guy act wasn’t an act at all,” but it was complimented by a “heart of gold.”

Brian Oliver, another of the chief’s sons, said two of his father’s most endearing and undying qualities were his sincerity and his compassion.

“If my problems were greater than anything he could fix,” he said, “then he would sit down and hurt with me.”

Oliver’s wife, Sandra, said she’s been receiving letters and messages from all kinds of people she’s never met and whom Oliver helped in some way over the years.

“I never knew half the things he did, but apparently he touched a lot of lives,” she said.

She said Oliver, an orphan, didn’t depend on others but would often take phone calls in the middle of the night from people needing help.

Sandra Oliver and others also fondly remembered Oliver’s sense of humor.

“He found humor in everything, even the saddest things,” she said.

Oliver is survived by his wife, two sons, three stepsons and 10 grandchildren.