DNR plans memorial service for fallen officers

INDIANAPOLIS — A memorial ceremony will be at 11 a.m. Thursday in Indianapolis to remember fallen Indiana Conservation Officers who made the ultimate sacrifice in their service to the state of Indiana and its citizens. The ceremony is open to the public.

The ceremony will be at the Indiana Law Enforcement and Firefighters Memorial, at Government Way and Senate Avenue, next to the Indiana Statehouse.

Seven members of the DNR Division of Law Enforcement have died in the line of duty since its inception in 1911. Those officers, listed with their end of watch date: Sgt. Ed Bollman, Feb. 13, 2018; F/Sgt. Karl E. Kelley, April 17, 1998; ICO Thomas Deniston, Oct. 16, 1990; ICO James D. Pitzer, May 27, 1958; Warden William J. Nattkemper, April 27, 1926; and Warden William J. Peare, April 27, 1926.

Indiana Conservation Officers are law enforcement officers for the DNR and are the oldest Indiana state law enforcement agency. A total of 214 Indiana Conservation Officers serve the state.