A memorial to former Lancaster County Sheriff's Deputy Craig Dodge is nearing completion. The brick sculpture, honoring the only deputy ever killed in the line of duty in Lancaster County, will be installed next spring in Hickman. The life-sized statue, shown standing next to a brick wall, is being carved at Yankee Hill Brick Company by Lincoln Artist Sten Eisentrager, who says it's a honor to be picked for the job. "It's just a great opportunity for a sculptor to show some respect for an officer that died in the line of duty" he said.
The memorial will be installed in a small park in Hickman on the site where Deputy Dodge was shot to death while responding to a domestic disturbance in 1987. The project is the brain child of Sheriff's Deputy Drew Bolzer, who never knew Dodge and didn't become a deputy until 2006. KFOR news asked what inspired him to start the project...
"We're all a brotherhood in this job, and I went into it knowing that if something were to happen to me in 25 years, or 50 years, that one of my brothers would preserve a spot for me."
After approval and finishing touches, the brick sculpture will be taken apart, fired in the brick company's kiln, then assembled in Craig Dodge Memorial Park in Hickman sometime this coming spring.