Gone, But Not Forgotten

Law enforcement officers in Black Hawk County took time on Wednesday (May 14, 2014) to remember their fallen comrades. A ceremony, honoring the 13 men who died while trying to protect the public, was held outside Veterans Memorial Hall in Waterloo.

Among the local officers who lost their lives in the line of duty are seven policemen from Waterloo, one from Cedar Falls, a La Porte City officer, two Black Hawk County sheriff’s deputies, and two Iowa State Patrol troopers.

The list includes: John Bailey - Waterloo (died in 1902); Fred Widmann - Waterloo (1908); William Goodenbour - Waterloo (1920); Vinton Margretz - Waterloo (1925); W. Fay Dilworth - Black Hawk County (1932); Everett Dutcher - Cedar Falls (1945); William Mehlhorn - Waterloo (1956); Gabriel LaFromboise - La Porte City (1976); Wayne Rice and Michael Hoing - Waterloo (1981); William Mullikin - Black Hawk County (1981); Charles Whitney - Iowa State Patrol (1985); and Lance Dietsch - Iowa State Patrol (1989).

Officers from each of the county’s 10 agencies gathered for the ceremony, which is held annually during National Police Memorial Week. Iowa State Patrol Post 9 in Cedar Falls hosted this year’s event.

State Representative Bob Kressig of Cedar Falls delivered the keynote address. He is the top-ranking democrat on the legislature’s public safety committee, the group that adopts policies designed to help protect Iowa’s law enforcement officers.

“We can never repay our debt to those officers and their families, but we must do what we can, with all that we have, to live our lives in a way that pays tribute to their memory,” Kressig said. “Today, it is with deep gratitude that we honor and remember our fallen peace officers and their families.”

The 12 local officers are among 187 in Iowa who gave the ultimate sacrifice. The deaths range from 115 officers killed from gunfire to 17 who died in an auto accident. The first reported death of an officer occurred in Fremont County in 1866.

Since 1791, there have been 21,743 known line-of-duty deaths in the United States. Forty-one (41) of those officers were killed this year.