COLDWATER,MI (WTVB) – In 1962, President John F. Kennedy signed a proclamation designating May 15 as National Peace Officers Memorial Day and the week in which it falls as National Police Week.
Citizens across the country are encouraged to take this time to honor fallen officers by paying tribute to their commitment, selflessness, and bravery while protecting their communities at the local, state, and federal levels.
Throughout the years Branch County has had three officers die in the line of duty.
-Corrections Deputy Kevin Kokinis (2021) died from complications as the result of contracting COVID-19 while working at the Branch County Jail. Deputy Kokinis served with the Branch County Sheriff’s Office for 22 years.
-Deputy Sheriff Michael Winter (2016) succumbed to injuries sustained the previous day when he was thrown from his horse while on a special detail at the Memorial Day Parade along West Chicago Street in Quincy.
He suffered a severe head injury when something spooked the horse near the intersection of West Chicago Street and West Street, causing it to buck and throw him. He was flown to a hospital in Indiana where he was taken off of life support the following day so his organs could be donated.
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-Sheriff George Ralston (1917) was shot and killed when he and a deputy went to speak with a mentally ill farmer who had been causing problems in his neighborhood in California Township.
The farmer ambushed them as they approached the area. Sheriff Ralston was shot in the side and fell to the ground. The deputy, who was unarmed, took cover on the side of the road.
After firing at the retreating deputy the man began shooting Sheriff Ralston again, striking him in the back and lung. The man fled into his house where he was shot and killed by a posse after a standoff.
State wide more than 734 officers have died in the line of duty in Michigan.
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