Ceremony will honor Cold Spring officer Tom Decker on the 10th anniversary of his death

Times staff report
·1 min read

A Nov. 27 commemoration ceremony will honor slain Cold Spring Police Officer Tom Decker 10 years after his death.

The ceremony begins at 1 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 27 at St. Boniface Catholic Church in Cold Spring. A public reception will follow.

Decker's family will be honored at the ceremony, as well the families of of St. Joseph Police Officer Brian Klinefelter, who died while on duty in 1996, and Mendota Heights Police Officer Scott Patrick, who died while on duty in 2014.

Decker was conducting a welfare check with his partner when he was shot and killed in a parking lot in 2012. The Stearns County investigation into his killer was closed in 2018. A person of interest in the investigation committed suicide in 2013. Part of Minnesota Highway 23 has been renamed the Officer Tom Decker Memorial Highway.

Officer Tom Decker's widow, Alicia, and parents, Rosella and John Decker unveil a new sign renaming the portion of Minnesota Highway 23 through Cold Spring and Richmond as Officer Tom Decker Memorial Highway during a ceremony Thursday, Aug. 22 in Cold Spring. Officer Tom Decker's widow, Alicia, and parents, Rosella and John Decker unveil a new sign renaming the portion of Minnesota Highway 23 through Cold Spring and Richmond as Officer Tom Decker Memorial Highway during a ceremony Thursday, Aug. 22, 2016 in Cold Spring.

Speaking at the Nov. 27 ceremony are former Cold Spring Police Chief Phil Jones, Congressman Tom Emmer, Sen. Jeff Howe, Rep. Lisa Demuth, Bishop Donald Kettler and Pastor Denny Curran.

Those organizing the ceremony are also leading an effort to install a memorial honoring Decker and other law enforcement officers. According to the Cold Spring Police Memorial website, as of October, $48,000 of the $60,000 goal had been raised.

This article originally appeared on St. Cloud Times: Ceremony to recognize 10th anniversary of officer Tom Decker's death