(Indianola, Iowa) There's a new bench and rock honoring two Simpson College graduates, who both became central Iowa police officers, and who were both killed in line of duty nearly a year ago.
A memorial service was held last week at the Indianola campus to honor the lives of Sergeant Anthony "Tony" Beminio of the Des Moines Police Department and Officer Justin Martin of the Urbandale Police Department.
Beminio, 38, and Martin, 24, were ambushed and killed within minutes of each other on Nov. 2, 2016. Beminio graduated from Simpson in 2001, Martin in 2015.
“We spend a great deal of time at Simpson College talking about integrity and service,” Simpson President Jay Simmons said. “These two gentlemen exemplified that in ways that none of us would ever want them to have to exemplify in the way that they did.“
Carolyn Dallinger, Department Chair of Sociology and Criminal Justice, said Beminio and Martin had much in common.“Both Tony and Justin had great strength of character and loved what they did,” she said. “They were both acknowledged as leaders. They both were great athletes in high school and in college. Both played football. They were great teammates. They both had a deep desire to help others and each one of them had a dream to become a police officer. They were genuinely kind people.”
Casey's General Stores Inc. donated $50,000 to establish two memorial scholarship funds at Simpson. During the event Thursday, the first two recipients of the Anthony Beminio Memorial Scholarship and the Justin Martin Memorial Scholarship were named.
(Photos from Simpson College & Urbandale Police Department)