Thanks to the generosity of a Faribault metal shop and the initiative of a scholarship committee created to honor the life of fallen Waseca County Sheriff Don Eustice, benches honoring the life and sacrifice of Sheriff Eustice and Lemick Arthur “Art” Larson, an earlier sheriff who also died in the line of duty, have been installed at the Waseca County Sheriff’s Office.
The Don Eustice Scholarship Fund, established in memory of Don’s life of service, has granted 99 scholarships totaling over $70,000 since to Waseca County students who are entering or enrolled in University and pursuing a law enforcement degree.
Born and raised on a farm north of Elysian, Sheriff Eustice served in the Navy before returning home to Waseca. In 1952, he joined the ranks of law enforcement with the Waseca Police Department, then joined the Waseca County Sheriff’s Office as Deputy Sheriff a year later.
In 1966, Sheriff Eustice ran for and was elected Waseca County Sheriff and was subsequently re-elected twice. He was highly respected among his peers and active in the community, serving as President of the Rotary Club and of the Minnesota Sheriffs Association.
On September 4, 1976, Sheriff Eustice was killed in the line of duty while serving commitment papers upon a mentally ill man in rural Waseca County. Like so many Waseca County residents, Sheriff Eustice knew the man well and even considered him something of a friend.
Nearly 50 years later, the memory and legacy of Sheriff Eustice remains alive and well, not only through the Don Eustice Scholarship Fund but through his nine kids and many more grandkids and even great-grandkids, many of whom remain in Waseca County.
Still, as the years pass by the Scholarship Committee wanted to make sure that the life of service and ultimate sacrifice of Sheriff Eustice remains honored and remembered, along with an earlier Sheriff who also perished in the line of duty after a life of honorable service.
In 2020, the Sheriff’s Office discovered while researching its own history that, tragically, Sheriff Eustice was not its only former Sheriff who perished in the line of duty. On Sept. 28, 1940, Sheriff Lemick Arthur “Art” Larson died in a motor vehicle accident in South Dakota.
Sheriff Larson had traveled to South Dakota alongside a county judge to extradite a suspect accused of embezzlement back to Waseca County. While en route, Sheriff Larson lost control of his vehicle and crashed into a livestock truck, suffering fatal injuries in the crash.
Like Sheriff Eustice, Sheriff Larson was a military veteran, having served in the Army in World War I. He served in law enforcement for 16 years and had been elected Sheriff of Waseca County two years prior in 1938.
Waseca County Sheriff’s Investigator Joe Roeker, who currently serves as President of the Don Eustice Scholarship Committee, said that he and the Committee wanted to be sure that the project would honor the life and legacy of Sheriff Larson as well as Sheriff Eustice.
“We didn’t just want Sheriff Eustice because there was another Sheriff that was killed too,” said Investigator Roeker. “That’s why we got both of their names on there, to honor both of them.”
After hearing about the project, owners Todd and Merle Vold of Faribault-based metal shop V/M Engineering offered to build the benches and donate them to the Sheriff’s Office. Additional design work was contributed by Kyle Roers of Janesville’s Clear Cut Metal Art.
The benches have been placed inside the Sheriff’s Office rather than outside, ensuring they will be shielded from the elements and that employees and all who visit the Sheriff’s Office will see them and remember the ultimate sacrifice paid by two hometown law enforcement heroes.
“They’ll be inside the Sheriff’s Office lobby where they’re protected and available for everyone to sit on,” said current Sheriff Jay Dulas. “They’ll be around for a long time.”
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