Posted at: 09/03/2012 6:51 PM
By: Katie Eldred

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Donations Collected for Officer's Memorial

(ABC 6 NEWS) -- In southeast Minnesota more than 30 law enforcement officers have given their life in the line of duty. Now area officials and family members are working to put a permanent memorial in place to honor those fallen officers.

Joyce Meyer will never forget the day she lost her son officer Jason Meyer, of Grand Meadow.

“To go through that, it is the worst thing you'll ever experience.”

Meyer died in crash while driving to assist another officer. Joyce wants others to remember him as well.

"We want other people to remember him for who he was and other officers as well for who they are, and the sacrifices they have to make."

Since her son’s death Meyer has worked to honor Jason through scholarships and fundraisers. This time at the Stewartville Pizza Ranch she is fundraising for more than just her sons memory.

Meyer along with captain Kevin Torgerson are just two of the members of the Rochester Olmsted County Law Enforcement Memorial Association. They are working to build a  law enforcement memorial in Rochester.

"It would be a quiet place of remembrance and honor, but yet very public so that people understand the sacrifices that are made at times," said captain Torgerson.

Previously officers have held memorial services at Soldiers Field Veterans Memorial. ROCLEMA hopes to build their new memorial near there.

At the Labor Day fundraiser at the Stewartville pizza Ranch 10 percent of the sales will go towards the memorial as well as all of the tips.

"As part of this we're launching our t-shirts and our new logo, to help people understand that we're here and we've got a lot of work to do," said Torgerson.

Early estimates are that the memorial will cost around one hundred and fifty to two hundred thousand dollars. They hope to break ground within the next two years.

"It'll be nice to have some place to go here in Rochester, to sit and reflect and remember all the officers in South East Minnesota that lost their lives," said Meyer.

The Stewartville Pizza Ranch fundraiser for the memorial ran from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.