Sheboygan honors fallen officers with memorial ceremony
The keynote speaker was former Kiel Police Chief David Funkhouser
SHEBOYGAN — Members of the law enforcement community gathered Thursday for the seventh annual Sheboygan County Law Enforcement Memorial Ceremony.
The event was held outside the Sheboygan County Law Enforcement Center on North 6th Street. In addition to members of law enforcement, ceremony attendees included retired Sheriff Cory Roeseler and Michael Helmke as well as elected officials and community leaders. Pastor John Putnam gave the invocation.
The keynote speaker was former Kiel Police Chief David Funkhouser. “The ceremony is the perfect opportunity to pay tribute to all our law enforcement partners who have sacrificed their lives in pursuit of keeping our community safe,” said Sheriff Matt Spence before the event. “We recognize sacrifices extend past our frontline personnel to all those that support enforcement operations.”
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The ceremony began in 2019 and has been held annually in the courtyard between the Courthouse and the Sheriff’s Office “It is our duty to remember those who have made the ultimate sacrifice,” added Spence. Detective Ben Jeanty read the names of fallen officers from Sheboygan, Manitowoc, Calumet, and Fond du Lac counties.
Trooper Trevor Casper was shot and killed in Fond du Lac while attempting to apprehend a bank robbery and murder suspect on March 24, 2015. Trooper Casper had graduated from the police academy only three months prior to the incident and was on his first shift after being cut loose from field training. He was survived by his parents and two sisters. The Fond du Lac Police Department has had four line of duty deaths including Officer John Kurer and Officer Craig Birkholz.
Lieutenant Leroy Nennig, Jr. of the Sheboygan County Sheriff’s Office was killed in a motorcycle crash on August 15, 2004 while stopping to assist at the scene of a vehicle fire. He was returning from an assignment at the PGA Tournament when he spotted the fire on Highway 23. Nennig was a U.S. Marine Corps veteran and had served with the Sheriff's Office for 30 years. He was survived by his wife, and three sons.
Sheboygan Officer Theodore Husting was shot and killed on March 27, 1937 while investigating a burglary in progress. Officer Husting had served with the Sheboygan Police Department for six years. Special Officer Charles Freiherr was struck and killed by a train on September 6, 1895 while patrolling the railroad near Pennsylvania Avenue. Officer Freiherr had served with the agency for only two months. He was survived by his wife and four children.
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