Pausing to remember

Emotional memorial service honors city’s fallen officers

By Ed Nadolski

Editor in chief

Each May in recent years, Jean Taylor receives a letter from the parole board advising her the man convicted of killing her father will be considered for release from prison.

As upsetting as that annual ritual is, Taylor dutifully writes a letter to the board stating her objections to his release. And then, about the same time each year, she’s able to take a measure of comfort in a ceremony honoring police officers killed in the line of duty – including her father.

The sacrifice that is police work was recalled poignantly May 17 in the tears of descendants like Taylor and the haunting reverberation of a rifle salute in a ceremony hosted by City of Burlington Police Department as part of National Police Week.

The department’s annual Peace Officer Memorial ceremony had a new look this year – moving to Veterans Terrace at Echo Park – but its focus fittingly remained on the ultimate sacrifice of two of the city’s men in blue.

Officer Hubert “Pink” Schenning, who was killed in the line of duty on Feb. 9, 1935, and Sgt. Anthony Eilers – Taylor’s father – who was killed in service on Feb. 5, 1962, were recalled in words, a video tribute and a display of memorabilia as their descendants held a place of honor in the front row.

Officer Jeremy Krusemark, who organized and emceed the ceremony, spoke of how both men began their last days with seemingly mundane police work only to have them end in violence as criminals took their lives.

It is a reality all officers and their families must face on a daily basis, he said.

Krusemark also read a poem penned by Taylor that honored her father’s memory.

She said she asked Krusemark to read it because there was no way she could have gotten through it without breaking down.

Police Chief Peter Nimmer was not so lucky. Nimmer, who along with the other sworn officers wore a black band across his badge, choked up while recalling the sacrifices of Schenning and Eilers and thanking his force for its service in the past year.

It was that kind of a ceremony.

Taylor, who attended the ceremony along with her brother and sister-in-law John and Betty Eilers as well as her daughter-in-law Kari Storm, praised the efforts Krusemark put into planning the ceremony.

“It was very nice,” she said. “He really personalized (the fallen officers).”

That sentiment was echoed by Sherry Gordon, granddaughter of Hubert Schenning.

“I really liked it,” she said of the ceremony. “It humanized so well. We even learned some things about him that we didn’t know.”

Gordon attended the ceremony with her mother Joanne Schenning, brother John and his wife, and sister Sandy and her son.

The ceremony included songs by the Burlington High School Choir, a rifle salute and playing of taps by the local veterans groups and a lunch that was open to the public.

Others honored

In addition to honoring fallen officers, the department took time to recognize both members of the police force and local citizens for meritorious service in the past year.

Among the citizens honored with certificates of commendation for their actions during the past year were:

• Linzy Mahoney, who called 911 and helped rescue her father, who had lapsed into a diabetic crisis. Linzy was able to provide a piece of candy to her father and maintain contact with a dispatcher until help arrived.

• Barbara Blazina, a teller at North Shore Bank’s Burlington branch, who noticed theft by fraud amounting to $20,000 in a customer’s account. Through her efforts, police eventually made an arrest in the case.

• Bill Pieters, a 20-plus year veteran of the Town of Burlington Fire Department, who stopped his car to assist a man who had fallen unconscious along State Street in May 2011. Pieters, who was accompanied by Matthew Hegeman, performed CPR until emergency responders arrived and succeeded in saving the man’s life. Pieters deflected praise, saying he was just doing what he was trained to do as a firefighter. He also noted that the rescue occurred on his birthday, May 21.

In addition to the citizen awards, the department presented: a certificate of commendation to retired officer Paul Warick, who for 10 years organized the police memorial ceremony; a meritorious service medal to Sgt. Brian Zmudzinski, for five years of service as the department’s firearms instructor; and an honorable service award to officer Jody Borchardt for five years service to the force.