After 78 years of hosting home games, the final Marshfield High School football game at Beell Stadium is scheduled for Friday, October 5. During a special halftime ceremony, Marshfield Police Department will honor the facility’s namesake, Fred Beell, who is the only Marshfield Police Department officer to have been killed in the line of duty.
To commemorate Beell, members of MPD will speak at halftime, the MPD Honor Guard will be present, and the ARV will be on site.
Members of Marshfield Police Department hope that the memory of Beell, who was killed while responding to a robbery in the early morning hours of August 5, 1933, will live on even after the stadium ceases being a community hub.
“Being a high school football field, it’s something that people connect with every Friday. That’s something people rally around,” said Lt. Dennis Keffer. “He died for the City. This is the only reference to Beell that we have. When they named it in 1941, it was timely and appropriate, now there will cease to be a remembrance to him.”
“There are many people that go to that field, that 1- misspell the name and 2-don’t know the connection. That’s why we put the stone out there a while ago. That’s why we do the annual peace officer memorial there. That’s why we’re doing this ceremony,” he added.
Keffer believes that the stadium has been a fitting tribute to Beell, who was a world-famous wrestling champion and sportsman before entering policework. Though the halftime ceremony is designed to honor the stadium’s namesake, Keffer and other department members hope that citizens are reminded of – and don’t forget – the person who gave his life for his city.
“If this is going to be diminished in use, it would be nice if the City would look to honor Fred Beell in some other way, such as a street name or park,” added Keffer. “My big goal with this is to have people focused on retaining the memory of Fred Beell.”
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