Local officers honored

By Hub City Times staff

MARSHFIELD – On May 16, the Marshfield Professional Police Association held its annual Peace Officer Memorial Day ceremony at Wildwood Park, to honor former Marshfield Police officer Fred Beell, who was killed in the line of duty while responding to a burglary at the Marshfield Brewery on Aug. 5, 1933.

 The program also took time to remember the two Wisconsin police officers who died in 2018–Charles Irvine Junior and Michael John Michalski of the Milwaukee Police Department. They were among the 163 police officers who died in the line of duty last year–including 52 who were killed by gunfire.

During the ceremony, the department honored two current members of the force and Marshfield Police Auxiliary Director Seth Stankowski, who was given the department’s “Support Staff Member of the Year” award.

Police Chief Rick Gramza, right, commends Travis Esser, while presenting him with the Fred Beell Honor Award. Hub City Times Staff Photo

Marshfield Police Chief Rick Gramza presented Travis Esser with the department’s Fred Beell Honor Award for acts of bravery, when he defused a situation involving a man armed with a knife who was threatening probation, parole and social workers who had been sent to his home on Spruce Avenue in July of last year.

Also honored was Libby Abel, who received the department’s “Officer of the Year” award.

Officer Abel joined the department in 2014.