Keokuk deputy heralded as selfless hero

SIGOURNEY, Iowa – In What Cheer Saturday morning, people got dressed in their best to go pay him their respects.

In Garrett Cemetery a few miles south, a man in a backhoe dug his grave.

In Sigourney that afternoon, thousands of people packed the gym of the high school in one of the communities he helped keep safe.

Everyone mourned Sgt. Eric Stein of the Keokuk County Sheriff's Office, gunned down in the line of duty Monday and laid to rest Saturday.

Importantly, they also celebrated his life.

“Death is powerless to take away the memories and moments it (life) gives us,” the Rev. Vince Homan told the several thousand people who attended Stein's funeral at this southeast Iowa town's high school.

Those memories of the 39-year-old Stein, who lived in What Cheer, included him as an athlete, cowboy, perfectionist, sheriff's deputy and dad. The moments included a practical joker who would repeatedly trick a fellow officer into sitting in water and a son proud to wear pink to support breast cancer, the disease that claimed his late mother, Joan.

Regrettably, they also included his death.

Investigators say Stein was shot and killed by Jeffrey A. Krier as Stein, Sheriff Jeff Shipley and Deputy Casey Hinnah arrived at Krier's house in rural Sigourney just before noon Monday. Krier, a 53-year-old with a history of mental illness, was shot and killed three hours later after a standoff.

Few details of the incident have been released.

“That day he was nothing short of heroic – one hell of a man. If there's something you take away from here today, I want you to know that,” Shipley said at the funeral.

At Krier's place, Stein warned backup to stay away until more help could be provided, one of the speakers said.

Stein was the first Iowa peace officer to be shot and killed in the line of duty since 1985. The state's law enforcement personnel turned out by the thousands Saturday in a sign of support and respect.

They came from across the nation and, seemingly, every community in Iowa. Sheriff's offices, police departments, the Iowa State Patrol, fire departments, and even conservation officers and at least two K-9 units.

At the start of the funeral, every officer walked by Stein's flag-draped casket. A stone behind it read: “SGT. Eric Stein. 54-3. End of Watch 4/4/11.” That's his rank, badge number and date of death.

Washington County Sheriff's Deputy Aaron Gould, who served in Keokuk County for four years and said Stein was his mentor, thanked all of the officers who responded on Monday.

“Eric would have been the first one on scene if it was any of you,” he said.

Gov. Terry Branstad, who has said he will officially proclaim Stein a hero, also was in attendance.

As were thousands of community members. Todd Abrahamson, superintendent of Sigourney and Tri-County school districts, estimated several thousand people in all were in the high school, which is down the block from where Stein's daughter, Shelby, attends elementary school. The service was in the gym, and two overflow areas also filled up.

“It's just a sad day, but people have really pulled together,” he said in an interview.

Stein's fiancée, Keri Wyett, said the man she was to marry would not have wanted all the fuss, calling him a simple country boy.

“I love you, Eric,” she said.

Hundreds of residents not at the funeral lined the streets to watch the funeral procession pass. It went through Sigourney and was to go through Keswick, Thornburg and What Cheer before arriving at the small Garrett Cemetery. One officer reported it stretched 16 miles long.

The procession was led into the cemetery by two police officers on horseback guiding a riderless horse with boots reversed in the stirrups, which honors a fallen leader. There also was a three-volley salute and the playing of “Taps” and bagpipes. Three medical helicopters flew over the burial to honor Stein, a former paramedic.

American flags dotted poles and yards across Sigourney. A 20-foot-by-36-foot flag hung from a Washington County fire truck on the west entrance to Sigourney and a 50-foot-by-30-foot flag was hoisted downtown by the Pella and Fairfield fire departments.

Flags also ran from Sigourney to Garrett Cemetery to What Cheer.

A sign outside the What Cheer fire station seemed to speak for the town. It said:

“Hometown hero 54-3.”

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