Schapekahm: A man of peace

By KEVIN SWEENEY

Journal Editor

NEW ULM -- New Ulm Mayor Bert Schapekahm was remembered Monday as a "peace" officer in the truest sense of the word.

Mourners filled St. Paul's Lutheran Church for the funeral of Schapekahm, 68, who died of cancer Thursday at Methodist Hospital in Rochester.

The Rev. Thomas Henning said Schapekahm was a man "filled with peace. He was concerned with the peace of the city as a police officer, and as mayor."

Henning recounted a couple of examples when Schapekahm, as a police officer, had come to his assistance over the years.

"Bert was filled with peace because he knew the peace of our Lord," Henning said.

In a world filled with uncertainty and evil, Schapekahm held on to the peace of God's covenant with man, said Henning. It sustained him through life, and helped him in his final days as he faced his own death, Henning said.

New Ulm Police Chief Howard Zins lauded Schapekahm as a "true friend and a mentor."

"I had the privilege to serve with Sgt. Schapekahm as a young officer," Zins said. "He was my John Wayne, my Audie Murphy. I tried to be just like him, although I'm sure I came up short in many ways."

Zins said "community policing" is a popular concept in law enforcement today.

"Bert was years ahead of his time," said Zins. "He knew what community policing was all about. When I first started out, Bert and I would drive around on patrol. He seemed to know everybody. We'd drive down every street, every alley in town. He would always wave to people and stop to talk with them."

Zins cited Schapekahm's development of the exchange training program with police departments in Germany, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. Two officers from Germany flew in to New Ulm for Monday's service -- Dieter Probstle, head jailer at the city jail in Ulm, and Lt. Hans Holthaus of the Bersenbruck Police Department.

Zins said Schapekahm, who was buried in his New Ulm Police Department uniform, was someone who put the needs of others ahead of his own. "You dedicated your life to protecting those you served," said Zins. "I know you are in that Big Police Station in the Sky, because it says in the Bible, 'Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.'"