Texas Department of Public Safety honored the life and service of Sergeant Karl Keesee in a memorial dedication ceremony on Saturday, March 12th at the DPS Office in Brownwood. A large crowd of friends, family, coworkers and community members gathered to support the family.
Texas DPS Major Bryan Rippee served as master of ceremonies. Texas DPS Honor Guard members removed and respectfully folded the flag unveiling the memorial honoring Sgt. Keesee.
Lt. Colonel David Baker-Deputy Director of Law Enforcement Operations greeted and thanked the Keesee family members for allowing the DPS to honor Sgt. Keesee. Baker recognized the law enforcement officers present and thanked them for their service.
“Not everyone has the courage and strength for a life in law enforcement,” said Baker. “Every day, the Texas Department of Safety serves on the front line, combating crime and enhancing public safety. It’s a job that ultimately requires our troopers, special agents and rangers to place themselves in high risk situations each and every day. The department is eternally proud of and humbled by the sacrifices these outstanding individuals are willing to make.”
Lt. Col. Baker spoke of Keesee’s death and his commitment to his family and community.
“We tragically lost one of those brave officers, Sgt. Karl Keesee, who was killed in the line of duty in October of last year. Karl was a man of great courage and principle. He loved his family as well the community that he served. His commitment of protecting the lives of others cost him his own life. We are reminded in the Book of John, verse 15:13, that there is no greater example of love than that. His dedication and sacrifice will never be forgotten.”
Regional Commander Gary Albus of Lubbock explained that the Texas Legislature put into law that when a state officer dies in the line of duty, his pistol is officially retired and presented to the family. Saturday, Albus presented Keesee’s widow Darla his service pistol, along with a certificate documenting that the firearm was purchased by the State of Texas and put into service on July 14, 2004 and retired on October 29, 2015, the date of Sgt. Keesee’s death.
“Every day, our Texas DPS Troopers go to work and they patrol over 200,000 miles of highways in this great state. They do so because they care, they love what they do and they want to make a difference,” said Albus. “Sgt. Karl Keesee exemplified this with his more than 25 years of service. He was a great ambassador. He loved his job, he loved his troopers and he loved his family.”
Karlton Keesee thanked those in attendance for honoring his father and those who helped the family get through the loss of Sgt. Keesee. He stated, “I just can’t wait to stand at this office in tan one day, and to be a part of this family.”
Coworkers of Sgt. Keesee spoke of the character and work ethic of Sgt. Keesee after the ceremony.
Retired DPS communications officer Brent bush who knew Sgt. Keesee as a close friend since he came to Brownwood.
“I’ve known Karl since he moved here in 1990. He was a really hard working guy, he loved his family and he is just one of those ‘all-American’ guys,” said Bush. “There just aren’t enough of them around and it really hurts to lose one of them. He was just a super outstanding guy and we’re going to miss him so much.”
Sgt. Keesee’s supervisor, Captain Farber, stated he had known him since he came to the area as a Captain in 2007, when Keesee was a corporal. He spoke of Karl’s humble character and love of his community.
“He was a very good investigator, he loved this community and was never going to leave, so when he first got the chance he put in for corporal and got it very easily because of his good work ethic and doing a good job all the time,” Captain Farber stated. He explained that the promotion system in the past would have required Keesee to leave Brownwood and then try to work his way back. Farber explained the promotion system had changed but that Keesee still competed statewide with other applicants to secure the position of Sergeant locally and proved to be the best during the interview as one of the top ten applicants.
“We don’t play favorites, and of course Karl knew that. He was very quiet and doesn’t sell himself, but went about his work doing a great job. Hands down, when he came to the interview board, he did the best job, it wasn’t even close,” Farber said. “He always cared about his job, he always cared about his guys and did a great job for them. He was what you would call a ‘troopers’ sergeant,’ it was more important that his troops be taken care of than everything else. He loved the community, loved his family, I was proud to know him.”
The memorial stone was made possible by Don Metcalf who is carrying out the work of his brother Richard, dedicating a monument for each Texas State Trooper who is killed in the line of duty. Lt. Col. Baker thanked Metcalf for his tribute to the fallen troopers, “I can tell you that the work that you are doing is incredibly generous and it means so much to the DPS family. On behalf of everyone here today, thank you.”
Metcalf explained the origin of the memorial project, that his brother Richard had started the program after a single act of kindness showed to him by a young DPS trooper Carlos Warren, near Bastrop in 1991. He explained that Richard was impressed with the way the trooper handled a traffic stop. Several weeks later, Richard saw on the news that Trooper Warren had been shot to death while interrupting a kidnapping. Richard decided to place a memorial, at his own expense, at the park where it happened in Del Valle. He set the memorial by himself and said a prayer for Warren. Richard later learned that 70 more troopers had died in the line of duty and he decided to honor the remaining officers who had given such sacrifice.
Metcalf further explained that Richard had secured all the monuments but had passed away after a lengthy illness and his goal was not realized. Touched by his brother’s determination to honor all DPS troopers, Don took up the cause. As of July 2012, each of the 86 DPS troopers killed in the line of duty has been honored with a stone marker.
Pictured above are Honor Guards as they unveiled the memorial and folded the flag which had been draped over the stone.
Below are more photos from the ceremony.
Above: Don Metcalf addresses the crowd, provides history of the memorial program started by his brother Richard.
Regional Director Gary Albus presents Darla Keesee with Sgt. Keesee’s service pistol. Also pictured are Sgt. Keesee’s daughter Karesa (left), son Karlton (right) and Major Rippee.
Keesee family members, DPS troopers and Don Metcalf at the memorial.
