First County Officer Killed In Line Of Duty To Be Honored
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By -
Joseph B. Bauer, who was one of only two sheriff's deputies under former Sheriff Carl Latta, was killed while responding to a call on New Year's Eve 1954.
In fact, Bauer was in the first group of deputies to wear a uniform that is similar to the one's worn by today's officers.
According to a story in the Times-Union from that period, Bauer was headed south on Ind. 13 south of Syracuse when his vehicle and a vehicle headed northbound driven by James E. Blackburn, 33, of Syracuse collided.
Bauer, Blackburn and Paul Lee Traster, 26, of Syracuse all were killed instantly.
Traster was a friend of Bauer's and a passenger in his vehicle.
Last November current Sheriff Rocky Goshert got a phone call from Bauer's nephew, Carl Bauer, who lives in Columbus, Ohio.
"I got a phone call from (Carl Bauer) and he was asking what we could do to get his uncle's name in the national database," said Goshert.
The database Goshert is referring to is the one used for the National Law Enforcement Memorial Wall in Washington D.C.
Erected in 1988, the wall honors those police officers who gave their lives in the line of duty.
Goshert had Captain Aaron Rovenstine do some research.
"I remember reading something about an officer being killed in the Times-Union when Phil Hocstettler was killed," said Rovenstine. "Then my dad (former KCSD Sheriff Al Rovenstine) gave me some years to look up."
Rovenstine then went to the Warsaw Public Library where he looked through microfilm of old newspapers until he found the Jan. 3, 1955, edition of the Times-Union that details the circumstances surrounding Bauer's death.
KCSD Public Information Officer Sgt. Chad Hill then contacted Carl Bauer and eventually Joseph Bauer's widow Mary Bauer, who now lives in Arizona.
Tracking down family members other than Carl Bauer was no easy task.
With Bauer's death being more than 50 years ago, many of his relatives had passed away.
Joseph Bauer Jr., the former deputy's last surviving son, died of cancer in 2004.
Hill contacted with Bauer Jr.'s widow and was able to get more information.
Another obstacle came in getting reports. The Indiana State Police worked the accident and the post that worked it, Ligonier, was shut down and copies of those crash reports were destroyed.
Trying to track down what year the accident occurred even proved to be a problem. Joseph Bauer got into the accident at 12:40 a.m. EST on Jan. 1, 1955, but because the post was on central time, the accident was marked as a 1954 accident.
Finally the local officers compiled all the information they had and sent it off to Washington, D.C., before the Dec. 31 deadline for receiving nominees for the wall.
More than a month passed before there was any word, but this week another letter came across Goshert's desk saying that Bauer's name would be added in a ceremony May 13 during the 20th Annual Candlelight Vigil during National Police Week.
While Goshert, along with Rovenstine and Hill, were happy they could do their part to get Bauer's name on the wall, they also saw this as a way to bridge the past officers with current officers.
"I think this is very important for the memory of a man who served this community and did so by paying the ultimate price," said Goshert. "It's important for us officers, especially the younger ones, and this community to recognize those individuals from the past who served."
Rovenstine echoed Goshert's sentiment.
"It's important that young officers know the history of the department," said Rovenstine. "Officers who served in the 50s and 60s are getting older and they won't be around forever. And we won't be around forever. It's important to keep the history alive."
Bauer's story isn't an uncommon one. Officers killed as far back as the early 1920s have a hard time being recognized because of documentation being destroyed and friends and family members passing away.
But thanks to efforts like those by the Bauer family and KCSD that's starting to change.
"You're starting to find that more officers are being put on the wall," said Hill. "When I was there in 2000 they were honoring FBI officers who were killed during the John Dillinger days."
The honor also will serve as closure for Mary Bauer.
"She told me how difficult times were for her after he died," said Hill of talking to Bauer's widow. "She talked about how hard it was to raise two kids on her own and how she had trouble collecting money from the insurance companies. She said this would be a kind of closure."
Hill will serve as a KCSD representative for the event in May.
For more information about the National Law Enforcement Officers memorial visit www.nleomf.com[[In-content Ad]]
Joseph B. Bauer, who was one of only two sheriff's deputies under former Sheriff Carl Latta, was killed while responding to a call on New Year's Eve 1954.
In fact, Bauer was in the first group of deputies to wear a uniform that is similar to the one's worn by today's officers.
According to a story in the Times-Union from that period, Bauer was headed south on Ind. 13 south of Syracuse when his vehicle and a vehicle headed northbound driven by James E. Blackburn, 33, of Syracuse collided.
Bauer, Blackburn and Paul Lee Traster, 26, of Syracuse all were killed instantly.
Traster was a friend of Bauer's and a passenger in his vehicle.
Last November current Sheriff Rocky Goshert got a phone call from Bauer's nephew, Carl Bauer, who lives in Columbus, Ohio.
"I got a phone call from (Carl Bauer) and he was asking what we could do to get his uncle's name in the national database," said Goshert.
The database Goshert is referring to is the one used for the National Law Enforcement Memorial Wall in Washington D.C.
Erected in 1988, the wall honors those police officers who gave their lives in the line of duty.
Goshert had Captain Aaron Rovenstine do some research.
"I remember reading something about an officer being killed in the Times-Union when Phil Hocstettler was killed," said Rovenstine. "Then my dad (former KCSD Sheriff Al Rovenstine) gave me some years to look up."
Rovenstine then went to the Warsaw Public Library where he looked through microfilm of old newspapers until he found the Jan. 3, 1955, edition of the Times-Union that details the circumstances surrounding Bauer's death.
KCSD Public Information Officer Sgt. Chad Hill then contacted Carl Bauer and eventually Joseph Bauer's widow Mary Bauer, who now lives in Arizona.
Tracking down family members other than Carl Bauer was no easy task.
With Bauer's death being more than 50 years ago, many of his relatives had passed away.
Joseph Bauer Jr., the former deputy's last surviving son, died of cancer in 2004.
Hill contacted with Bauer Jr.'s widow and was able to get more information.
Another obstacle came in getting reports. The Indiana State Police worked the accident and the post that worked it, Ligonier, was shut down and copies of those crash reports were destroyed.
Trying to track down what year the accident occurred even proved to be a problem. Joseph Bauer got into the accident at 12:40 a.m. EST on Jan. 1, 1955, but because the post was on central time, the accident was marked as a 1954 accident.
Finally the local officers compiled all the information they had and sent it off to Washington, D.C., before the Dec. 31 deadline for receiving nominees for the wall.
More than a month passed before there was any word, but this week another letter came across Goshert's desk saying that Bauer's name would be added in a ceremony May 13 during the 20th Annual Candlelight Vigil during National Police Week.
While Goshert, along with Rovenstine and Hill, were happy they could do their part to get Bauer's name on the wall, they also saw this as a way to bridge the past officers with current officers.
"I think this is very important for the memory of a man who served this community and did so by paying the ultimate price," said Goshert. "It's important for us officers, especially the younger ones, and this community to recognize those individuals from the past who served."
Rovenstine echoed Goshert's sentiment.
"It's important that young officers know the history of the department," said Rovenstine. "Officers who served in the 50s and 60s are getting older and they won't be around forever. And we won't be around forever. It's important to keep the history alive."
Bauer's story isn't an uncommon one. Officers killed as far back as the early 1920s have a hard time being recognized because of documentation being destroyed and friends and family members passing away.
But thanks to efforts like those by the Bauer family and KCSD that's starting to change.
"You're starting to find that more officers are being put on the wall," said Hill. "When I was there in 2000 they were honoring FBI officers who were killed during the John Dillinger days."
The honor also will serve as closure for Mary Bauer.
"She told me how difficult times were for her after he died," said Hill of talking to Bauer's widow. "She talked about how hard it was to raise two kids on her own and how she had trouble collecting money from the insurance companies. She said this would be a kind of closure."
Hill will serve as a KCSD representative for the event in May.
For more information about the National Law Enforcement Officers memorial visit www.nleomf.com[[In-content Ad]]
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