TINA L. SCOTT
EDITOR
Retired Captain Richard Dabbert. Photo courtesy of Merrill Police Department.
Retired Capt. Richard Dabbert, who spent his 32-year career protecting the Merrill community as a respected and beloved member of the Merrill Police Department until his retirement in 2006, was laid to rest on Monday February 28, 2022 at Merrill’s Memorial Park Cemetery after a service of thanksgiving for his life at St. Stephens United Church of Christ.
Family, friends and officers gathered to say goodbye, with police in Merrill’s uniform watching beside the coffin during visitation and escorting their brother in blue from the church to the cemetery, as pallbearers and in squads that accompanied the procession to the cemetery. Dabbert died on February 22, 2022, at the age of 69.
Dabbert became a police officer for the Merrill Police Department on May 13, 1974, at the age of 21. Promoted to sergeant on January 1, 1982, then lieutenant on January 1, 1986; appointed Director of Security on April 1, 1990; then promoted to captain on April 17, 1998, Dabbert devoted 32 years to law enforcement and retired on December 31, 2006. While working with the police department, he oversaw the security patrol program and succeeded in placing defibrillators in every police vehicle. .
As Merrill Police Chief Corey Bennett said in a tribute to Dabbert on the department’s Facebook page after the funeral, it is impossible to summarize his life or his contributions in such a post and, likewise, in a short article. “As the pastor summarily stated during the service, sometimes words are incredibly insufficient,” Bennett wrote.
“That being said, as we remembered Rich last week, there was a theme that remained for those of us still here who had the pleasure of working with him,” he wrote. “It’s also something you probably won’t read about in a conventional leadership book, training seminar, etc.”
“It was his endlessly quiet, calm and capable personality,” Bennett wrote. “In this profession, it’s hard to imagine never having to raise your voice in certain situations. Yet no one remembers Rich ever doing this. Now I’m sure it happened, but clearly it happened so rarely that no one can remember it.
“That alone speaks to a level of professionalism, confidence and competence that we all aspire to,” Bennett said. “He led by being the best example for everyone (citizen or colleague) that he could be. These values and behavior will echo forward.
Described as a “quiet, determined and funny man”, Dabbert spent his retirement years enjoying the things he loved most: family, cooking, community, volunteering and sports, to name a few. only a few. He has volunteered for a variety of charities including the Food Pantry, Free Clinic, serving on the hospital board and at his church, St. Stephens, where he ran the Scrip Plus program. recently and had taught Sunday school for many years before.
He was also a sports enthusiast who enjoyed playing, watching and coaching a variety of sports, and had coached Little League and youth basketball for many years.
Rich Dabbert loved and leaves behind his wife, Nancy, whom he married nearly 44 years ago; two daughters, Kristen and Kari; two granddaughters, Geneviève and Vivian; and his siblings, Sharon and Milton, as well as a community of friends and his brothers in blue.
In the words of Police Chief Corey Bennett: “Rich, we thank you for your honorable service to this city during your professional career and, of course, long after through your volunteerism. It required a level of sacrifice hard to find in modern times. Sacrifices that always have a personal cost.
“Thank you to the Dabbert family for sharing these sacrifices and for generously sharing Rich with us. He will be missed.”
