DNR commemorates first game warden killed in line of duty

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 30, 2012

 

Contact: Dean Molnar, 517-373-1230 or Ed Golder, 517-335-3014

 

DNR commemorates first game warden killed in line of duty

 

More than 100 years after his death, Deputy Game Warden Frank S. Wilson was remembered by the Department of Natural Resources for his service to the state. Tuesday, April 3, marks the 104^th anniversary of the discovery of Wilson’s body in the woods near Leelanau, Mich.

 

This year, as the DNR celebrates a significant milestone – the 125^th anniversary of the first day on the job for Michigan’s first conservation officer – the department is paying special tribute to the 12 state conservation officers, including Wilson, who lost their lives while carrying out their professional duties.

 

An Elk Rapids resident, Wilson had been commissioned as a deputy warden less than a year earlier and had been assigned to a district composed of 10 counties in northern Michigan. He was the first warden in Michigan to be killed in the line of duty.

 

Wilson was last seen alive on the night of April 1, 1908, in Traverse City. He was later found with two bullet wounds to his head. The 53-year-old was survived by his wife and seven children.

 

“Most of the records of Wilson’s service were lost in a building fire in the 1950s,” said DNR Law Enforcement Division Chief Gary Hagler. “He has, however, been honored as a fallen conservation officer at the North American Game Warden Museum.”

 

Chief Hagler said that even though it’s more than a century later, “Deputy Warden Wilson’s sacrifice has not been forgotten.”

 

Throughout 2012, the DNR’s Law Enforcement Division will sponsor a number of events commemorating this anniversary, including a service for the 12 fallen conservation officers. That ceremony will be held at the Ralph A. MacMullan Conference Center in Roscommon on May 15 – which is also the date of the National Peace Officers’ Memorial Service at the U.S. Capitol, part of National Police Week in honor of all fallen peace officers. For more information on National Police Week, visit http://www.nationalcops.org/npw2012.htm.

 

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources is committed to the conservation, protection, management, use and enjoyment of the state’s natural and cultural resources for current and future generations. For more information, go to www.michigan.gov/dnr.

 

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/Note to editors: Although the department has no photos of Deputy Warden Wilson, there is a sketch available.

• CO_Wilson_sketch.tif