Remembering Bill Bauer

BRADFORD — It was just more than 13 months ago when Bradford and Wyoming Police Chief William Bauer was killed in a car accident.

Bauer is gone, but friends and family members are determined he will be remembered through a scholarship in his name.

“He loved the teenagers and all of the kids,” said Bauer’s sister, Anne Bauer Ahrens. “This scholarship is a really good way to show how he loved his job and the people of this area.”

Bauer, then 36, died Aug. 6, 2010, in an automobile accident while en route to an Illinois Valley Crime Commission Executive Board luncheon in Hennepin. He was Wyoming police chief for seven years and acting chief in Bradford for one year. He had worked in law enforcement part-time since 1997 for the Henry, Sheffield and Princeton police departments.

Ahrens said the people of Bradford first remembered Bauer last year with a hog roast and other events. Part of the money raised was used for the purchase of two memorial stones.

The Wyoming stone will be unveiled in a ceremony at Thomas Park at 2 p.m. Sept. 17, during the Fall Festival. Ahrens said some community and family members will be speaking at that ceremony.

The Bradford stone will be unveiled in the Bradford Park at about 4 p.m. Sept. 24, during a benefit being held to raise money for the Chief William T. “Bill” Bauer Scholarship Fund. The balance of the money raised last year was used to start the fund, and Ahrens said she is working with some residents of Stark County on the benefit to raise more money for the fund.

“It was built to help selected residents of the Bureau, Stark and Marshall counties area who choose to further their education in law enforcement,” Ahrens said.

The benefit will begin at noon at the corner of Lincoln and Main in Bradford. It includes a hog roast, kiddie games, Safety Town, raffles, an in-town poker run, bags tournament, auction and music.

Ahrens said she hopes to hold one main fundraiser for the fund every year in September, with additional smaller fundraisers throughout the year. Applications for the scholarship are available at the website for the Community Foundation of Central Illinois at www.communityfoundationci.org/.