[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 33 (Tuesday, February 27, 2007)]
[House]
[Pages H1939-H1940]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             MOURNING AND HONORING DETECTIVE KEITH DRESSEL

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Kaptur) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I am deeply saddened to stand before our 
House today to announce the tragic death of Detective Keith Dressel of 
the Toledo Police Department and offer deepest condolences on behalf of 
our entire community to his wife, Danielle, and their children.
  Detective Dressel, who was only 35 years old, was fatally shot on the 
morning of Wednesday, February 21, while on routine patrol in North 
Toledo, the first Toledo police officer to lose his life in service to 
our community since 1970.
  In reality, though, there is nothing routine or common about 
Detective Dressel's extraordinary service or that of the men and women 
with whom he served. Every day Detective Dressel sacrificed his safety 
so that he might protect all of ours.
  As a member of the vice squad, Detective Dressel engaged in dangerous 
work that frequently placed him in high-risk environments. He did this 
not for glory or praise, but to serve and protect residents from all 
walks of life.
  Charlotte Bronte's poem ``Life'' teaches us:


[[Page H1940]]


     ``What though Death at times steps in
     And calls our Best away?
     What though sorrow seems to win,
     O'er hope, a heavy sway?
     Yet hope again elastic springs, unconquered, though she fell;
     Still buoyant are her golden wings,
     Still strong to bear us well.
     Manfully, fearlessly,
     The day of trial bear,
     For gloriously, victoriously
     Can courage quell despair!''

  On the fateful day when lives were changed forever, the painful call 
went out: ``Attention all units. Detective Keith Dressel has answered 
his final call.''
  The Toledo Blade newspaper reports today: ``The final radio call to 
the slain Toledo police vice detective, a taped broadcast played at the 
conclusion of his funeral Mass yesterday, broke somber faces into 
tears.''
  The impact of this terrible tragedy has touched every corner of our 
community and beyond. We have all been moved by Keith Dressel's 
sacrifice, commitment, and courage, as well as that of his family.
  On behalf of the citizens of Toledo, Ohio, and all of the lives 
Detective Dressel has touched, I offer our deepest sympathy to 
Detective Dressel's loved ones, colleagues, and friends. May their 
faith sustain them through the difficult journey ahead as they remember 
the words of Psalm 46, versus 1 and 2: ``God is our refuge and our 
strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear, 
though the Earth be removed and though the mountains be carried into 
the midst of the sea.'' May their strength as a family and their 
memories of their husband, father, brother, nephew, uncle, grandson, 
son, and friend sustain them as they mourn his loss and celebrate his 
selfless legacy of patriotism, purpose, and service to his fellow 
citizens. His children should be comforted by the knowledge that life 
is not measured in years but in deeds.
  Detective Keith Dressel lived as a man for others, despite the danger 
and sacrifice to his own. May he rest in peace in God's house as an 
archangel watching over and guiding our earthly pursuits.
  The Blade describes this hero's funeral: ``Two lines of officers--at 
least two people deep--wove through the parking lot. Three to four 
other lines of officers stood at the front doors of the church, 
including Toledo police Chief Mike Navarre and Toledo fire Chief Mike 
Bell.
  ``After a private ceremony for the family, Detective Dressel's flag-
draped casket was escorted from the funeral home to a white hearse with 
a small American flag on the driver's side door. White-gloved Toledo 
police honor guard members stood on both sides of the hearse. Three 
rows of Cleveland Police Pipes and Drums members in full garb played 
and led the slow procession to the church. Officers lining the way 
saluted as the hearse passed.
  ``At the church, pallbearers in dark suits slowly pulled the casket 
from the hearse. The casket was blessed with Holy Water before being 
wheeled into the sanctuary. Inside, the U.S. flag covering the casket 
was removed and replaced with a white pall. . . More than 2,000 people 
filled Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church in Temperance for a 
funeral Mass for the 35-year-old husband and father of two. Detective 
Dressel's wife, Danielle, 32, held the couple's 4-year-old son, Noah, 
as the family was escorted inside the church.
  The Mass ended with Detective Dressel's last call, bagpipes, a 
prayer, and a hymn.
  Law enforcement officers streamed out of the church and formed more 
than a dozen rows in front of the front doors. Music from bagpipes and 
drums filled the background. The officers saluted as the casket was 
placed inside the hearse.
  The procession from the church to St. Anthony's Cemetery involved 
more than 1,500 police cars and other vehicles from dozens of states. 
Dozens of firefighters from the Toledo Fire Department and other area 
communities stood single file along the west side of Jackman Road 
leading to two fire aerial trucks forming an arch at Jackman and 
Temperance Road. The firefighters saluted the passing hearse and 
procession. The extended aerial ladders held an American flag, which 
blew south to north in the wind. The Toledo police mounted patrol unit 
joined the solemn procession, including for a time a riderless horse 
with boots backward in the stirrups, and led it to the cemetery.
  Along the way, residents stood at the ends of their driveways and 
schoolchildren stood with their hands over their hearts. Across the 
road from the cemetery, citizen mourners and officers stood silently in 
the cold, sometimes biting breeze, for the hearse and the clip-clop of 
the horses. Mrs. Dressel acknowledged those standing along the side of 
the road
  The start of the graveside ceremony was delayed to allow mourners--
many of them law enforcement officers--to park and walk more than a 
mile to the small, fenced cemetery for a final tribute to the fallen 
hero. A shorter service included The Lord's Prayer, which many officers 
said aloud. The American flag on Detective Dressel's casket was folded 
into a triangle and given to his widow.
  Seven officers fired a three-volley shotgun salute as officers 
snapped their own salute.
  ``Taps'' echoed through the air. ``Amazing Grace'' was played on the 
bagpipes as snowflakes slowly fell from the sky.
  As the Dressel family shared a last, private moment near the 
detective's casket, red-cheeked officers sniffled as they filed out of 
the cemetery.
  Detective Dressel was hired by the Toledo Police Department in 1993. 
Held in high esteem by his colleagues, this fallen hero will be 
remembered as a devoted public servant who was committed to his work 
and to his family. Despite his challenging work, Detective Dressel 
never compromised his integrity or sacrificed his sense of humor. 
Evidence of his legacy is clear in the heartfelt eulogies:
  Officiating at the Mass, his priest, Father Nusbaum said, ``Before 
Keith's laughter will fade away from this Earth, we'll hear it in a 
blink of an eye. That wonderful laugh.''
  His police chief Michael Navarre said, ``We honor a true hero, a 
young man who dedicated his life to this community . . . ``I salute you 
[Keith]. We all salute you and a life well lived.''
  It is reported that ``Ken Dressel, Detective Dressel's uncle, said 
one of the happiest days of his nephew's life was when he was accepted 
into the police academy. Only second to his family, the slain detective 
was most proud of his badge. `As much of a cop as he was--doing some of 
the most dangerous work in Toledo--we would often see him sitting on 
the floor playing with the children at family gatherings.' ''
  The impact of this terrible tragedy has touched every comer of our 
community and beyond. We have all been moved by Keith Dressel's 
sacrifice, commitment, and courage as well as that of his family's.
  We recall in excerpt the lines of Longfellow's poem, What the heart 
of the young man said to the psalmist.

     Life is real! Life is earnest!
     And the grave is not its goal;
     Dust thou art, to dust returnest,
     Was not spoken of the soul.

     Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,
     Is our destined end or way;
     But to act, that each to-morrow
     Find us farther than to-day.

     Art is long, and Time is fleeting,
     And our hearts, though stout and brave,
     Still, like muffled drums, are beating
     Funeral marches to the grave.

     In the world's broad field of battle,
     In the bivouac of Life,
     Be not like dumb, driven cattle!
     Be a hero in the strife!

     Trust no Future, howe'er pleasant!
     Let the dead Past bury its dead!
     Act,--act in the living Present!
     Heart within, and God o'erhead!

     Lives of great men all remind us
     We can make our lives sublime,
     And, departing, leave behind us
     Footprints on the sands of time;

     Footprints, that perhaps another,
     Sailing o'er life's solemn main,
     A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
     Seeing, shall take heart again.

     Let us, then, be up and doing,
     With a heart for any fate;
     Still achieving, still pursuing,
     Learn to labor and to wait.

  On behalf of the citizens of Toledo, Ohio, and of all the lives 
Detective Dressel has touched, I offer my deepest condolences to 
Detective Dressel's loved ones, colleagues and friends. Without a 
doubt, our community is better because he served. Detective Dressel 
will not be forgotten. May their faith sustain them through the 
difficult journey ahead as they remember the words of Psalm 46, verses 
1-2: ``God is our refuge and our strength, a very present help in 
trouble. Therefore, we will not fear, though the earth be removed, and 
though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea.'' May their 
strength as a family and their memories of their husband, father, 
brother, nephew, uncle, grandson, son and friend sustain them as they 
mourn his loss and celebrate his legacy.

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