March 29, 2024

Fallen officers honored in Police Week ceremony

Foster receives law enforcement award

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It’s not usually polite to mention a woman’s age. Thursday, Jasper County Sheriff John Halferty made an exception.

Halferty pointed out 93-year-old Helen Holdefer, the widow of Howard Holdefer, who died in the line of duty as a reserve Jasper County deputy in 1973. She attended Thursday’s Peace Officers Memorial for fallen county law enforcement who died during active service, and Halferty used his time at the podium to acknowledge his department’s only loss in the line of duty.

“Howard has been gone for 42 years, but he is not forgotten,” Halferty said.

A change of venue and a new award were among changes to the ceremony this year. It was moved from Union Cemetery to the Jasper County Courthouse lawn to give it more visibility and accessibility and the Newton Daily News presented its first Law Enforcement Employee of the Year award to Newton Police officer Brian Foster.

All local law enforcement and about 100 people attended the National Police Week event, which included the sounds of bagpiper Ron Husted, a color guard manned by sheriff’s deputies and local firefighters and words from Halferty, pastor Randy Danley, Newton Police Chief Rob Burdess, Beau Murray of the Prairie City Police Department, Newton Mayor Mike Hansen and Newton Daily News Editor Abigail Pelzer.

“We moved the ceremony here to a central location where folks can easily get in here,” Burdess said. “And to see we live in a community where folks look up from storefronts, or stop as they drive by to see there is a police ceremony and take an interest; that makes me feel pretty good.”

Five fallen officers were acknowledged, including Holdefer.

Three men from the Newton Police Department were remembered. Lt. Patrick Richardson suffered a heart attack in 2013, while training for an upcoming physical agility test; Officer Bobby Barrickman was killed in a 1979 traffic accident; Officer Daniel McPherren was killed while responding to a 1985 armed robbery.

Prairie City officer Donald (Rusty) Hewitt was killed in 1977 high-speed pursuit.

The memorial service was started in 2003 by then-NPD Chief Tom Wardlow. Burdess said the ceremony has grown into a countywide opportunity for law enforcement agencies to show the public their unity.

Foster, who will soon be rotating out of his school resource officer responsibilities, was surprised earlier Thursday afternoon when Berg Middle School and Berg Elementary students cheered him on, read kind written thank-you notes and watched a slide show and video. The Newton Daily News presented its Law Enforcement Employee of the Year Award during the ceremony at the courthouse.

“It’s a good thing I wasn’t asked to speak (at Berg), because I don’t know if I could have done it,” Foster said. “It’s moving to see how many lives an officer can touch. It’s also nice to see we’re appreciated, because that isn’t something we hear every day.”

Contact Jason W. Brooks at 641-792-3121 ext. 6532 or jbrooks@newtondailynews.com