In memory of Joe – former school resource officer recognized

By Jennifer Eisenbart

EDITOR

      There is little doubt in anyone’s mind that Joe Kirkpatrick had a passion for working with children.

      “Joe was always a very outgoing, easy-to-get-along-with officer, even on the road itself,” Elkhorn Police Chief Joel Christensen said. “That just kind of transitioned so well into the school itself.”

      Kirkpatrick, the school resource officer at Elkhorn Area High School, died unexpectedly in 2020, leaving behind a void felt by so many.

      Two weeks ago, the high school honored his dedication to students by finishing a memorial in Kirkpatrick’s honor. Now standing at the base of the school’s front-entry flag are two benches.

      The first, in red, reads: “To Protect and Love: In Memory of Joe Kirkpatrick.” The second, in blue: “To Protect and Serve: School Officer, Family Man, Friend.”

      The first features cutouts of two roses and a heart, the second of an American flag and eagle.

      The images represent all of what Kirkpatrick valued and also meant to the community.

      “I thought that was a great idea,” Christensen said. “I think there’s no better way to honor Joe’s legacy.”

Open-minded

      Perhaps the best way to describe Kirkpatrick came from Elkhorn Area High School principal Dan Kiel.

      Now in his ninth year as principal, Kiel spent seven of those years working with Kirkpatrick.

      “Joe deeply cared about the kids,” said Kiel. “Before discipline, before decisions were made, Joe wanted to know the story about the kid. He tried to do what was best for the kid.”

      Sometimes that meant offering an ear or a shoulder. Other times, it was not pursuing a ticket for a student but working to get them on the right path.

      Kiel said Kirkpatrick made it his business to talk with staff, with students – even with the lunch ladies in the school cafeteria.

      “I think Joe had a lot of fun at work,” Kiel added.

      But Kirkpatrick was also deeply patriotic.

      “Joe always also had a sense of country,” Christensen said.

      Those two missions sometimes combined. For example, Christensen remembered when, instead of pushing for punishment for a student, Kirkpatrick sponsored that student to attend a challenge academy at Fort McCoy.

      “I think he enjoyed trying to help those kids through school,” Christensen said.

      Kirkpatrick died unexpectedly in the summer of 2020, shortly before students were due back at Elkhorn after the extended absence from in-school settings due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

      “I remember I was sitting right at that desk, when (School Superintendent) Jason Tadlock called. I was floored,” Kiel said. “It hit people really hard. Most people knew about it, but when we came back and Joe wasn’t here … he was always here.”

      “It definitely left a gap,” Kiel said. “Joe filled the need for some kids.”

The memorial

      Some time last year, Kiel said school administrative assistant Sandy Jenkins came up with the idea of a memorial.

      Jenkins pitched the idea, and Kiel said both he and Tadlock were in support.

      So was Christensen. As the idea went from idea to reality, the Elkhorn community started pitching in.

      “Basically, whatever we needed, somebody picked it up,” Kiel said. “Somebody was willing to donate.”

      In addition to the benches, which were put together by R.C. Portable Welding and Fabrication, there are paver stones leading to the benches, as well as flowers and bushes.

      Chris Egner Design, Build, Remodel of New Berlin donated the plans, while Chris Stebnitz and Stebnitz Builders; Eric Leibsle and Leibsle Services, LLC; Rolando Sanchez and RJT Landscapes; Matt Loughney and MJL Lawncare; the school district’s maintenance department; and the Elkhorn High School FFA all contributed.

      The project just recently wrapped up, with the district waiting for the weather to stay consistently warm before planting the bushes and flowers.