ANN ARBOR, MI - In a way, John "Jack" Dentler wielded the original memes: funny photos of his friends with befitting captions, slipped in a mailbox for a birthday or handed to a loved one to make them smile.

And when he passed away on July 5 after a short illness, 91-year-old Dentler found a way to share one more photo and one more laugh.

The evening after his death, city employees he'd befriended - including all the members of the Ann Arbor Police Department - opened their emails to find a photo of Dentler kicking a bucket.

"I kicked the bucket," the photo read. "Jeanie and my family gave me a wonderful life! Thank you for being my friend."

The email seemingly incorporated some of Dentler's best qualities - his playful nature, selfless attention to others, love of his family, and his ability to make a friend out of everyone.

Ann Arbor Interim Police Chief Robert Pfannes briefly paused to collect himself while recalling the emailed announcement.

"Even in death, he tried to bring joy - while we were feeling grief over his passing," Pfannes said. "It was just so typical of how thoughtful he was and how original he was and just such an endearing gesture."

Dentler became a longtime volunteer with Ann Arbor police and fire following his retirement as a salesman from Pfizer, loved ones said.

He'd previously been a volunteer firefighter and officer in Willingboro, New Jersey, and following a citizen's police academy in the early 2000s, the beloved father of two, grandfather to five and great-grandfather to four began volunteering in Ann Arbor - showing up to event after event to take photos.

He became the unofficial photographer for the police and fire departments, taking photos of retirements, the in-house police academy, and the various citizen academies. Some police recruits may have even thought Dentler was a city employee, given his constant presence and access.

The way Pfannes describes it, Dentler's presence became an important thread in the fabric of Washtenaw County's public safety community.

"It wasn't so much what he did, it was who he was," Pfannes said. "And he was incredibly selfless and such a good and honorable person, and he cared about the officers and the firefighters as people,"

Participants at various events would find themselves with a CD of photos from Dentler, at no cost, or sometimes a rubber duck wearing a police uniform or workman's hat.

His wife of nearly 69 years, Jean Dentler, laughed as she recalled her late husband's propensity to carry around rubber ducks to give away, a basket from the wake full of ducks with various occupations still sitting in the other room.

She recalled once when he gave one to a fussy child at a restaurant, and quickly ran to his car to grab another when he found out the family had another child with them as well.

Jack was born in St. Joseph, and Jean and Jack Dentler met at Kalamazoo College, where Jack Dentler is credited with starting the radio station WJMD out of his dorm.

They were friends before they started dating and Jean Dentler, now 91, was all smiles on Thursday, July 12, as she recalled a life well-spent with Jack, traveling across the world and sailing with family in Pentwater. The photographer, who sometimes shot weddings for free for friends, also earned the name "Hobie Jack" for his skills and mentorship of sailors on Hobie Cat boats, she noted.

"He was the love of my life and we had a great life - really great life," she said, with a smile. "No complaints. I wish that for everybody."

A selfless man of many talents, her husband also was a woodworker who frequently gifted those he knew with wood carvings of their names, Jean Dentler said.

After his death, a family member found one in his van - carved for the grandchild of a Kroger employee who helped him find various items whenever he visited, Jean Dentler and her son, Scott, said.

"I don't think there were hardly any people that he met, that spent any time with him, that weren't his friends," Scott Dentler said.

Recalling the "kick the bucket" email, Scott and his mother laughed. Scott said his father gave him a CD with the image not long before his death and made his children promise it would be sent out after his passing.

Scott Dentler let out an alarmed, exasperated exclamation of "Dad!" when he recalled his reaction upon first seeing the image, but said he wasn't truly surprised. His father had a particular sense of humor.

He recalled a lifelong habit of his dad's, telling waitresses there was a hair in his food. He'd then pull out a stuffed toy rabbit - a hare - to elicit a laugh.

But jokes aside, his father was an excellent listener - something Pfannes emphasized at length. Dentler would always ask about others, rarely letting conversation turn to himself, Pfannes said.

Following Dentler's death, members of the Ann Arbor Police Department escorted the Dentler family to the funeral. Pfannes spoke to the audience of loved ones and first responders, with on-the-job officers paying quick respects before dashing away to work, Scott Dentler said.

Now an award in Jack Dentler's honor hanging in the police department sports a thin blue line.

The tribute is normally reserved for fallen officers. But taped on the Washtenaw 100's Howard and Norma Weaver Citizen's Award that Dentler received in 2017, it seems as much a tribute to a supporter as a call to action for the common citizen.

"What made Jack so special was in many ways his longevity - that somebody could give and never take and do something for other people with no expectation of anything in return - with such good humor, and such humility for such a long period of time," Pfannes said.

He later added that Dentler personified the dignity of altruism.

"I hope that Jack inspired others to give selflessly to their community," he said.

Funeral services have taken place. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the citizen's police, fire and courts academy through the Ann Arbor Police Department.