Gallery: Funeral for Berrien County Court Officer Ron Kienzle
Published 6:41 pm Monday, July 18, 2016
BENTON TOWNSHIP — Described by colleagues as a big man with a big heart, retired Benton Township Police Sgt. Ron Kienzle was laid to rest Monday surrounded by hundreds of fellow officers, family and friends.
Chief Vince Fetke, of the Benton Township Police, said the 63-year-old was known for treating everyone with respect no matter what the situation, positive or negative.
“At the end of the day he had no enemies,” Fetke said. “He is going to be missed by his law enforcement community, he will be missed by the citizens of Berrien County and, most of all, his loved ones.”
Kienzle was one of two Berrien County court officers shot and killed July 11 by an inmate who was trying to escape the Berrien County Courthouse in St. Joseph. Retired Michigan State Police Bridgman Post Commander Joseph Zangaro was also killed in what Berrien County Sheriff Paul Bailey described as a very difficult week.
“Our hearts are still broken and will be for quite some time,” Bailey said. “Ron and Joe were wonderful people.”
“We have lost two very well loved and dedicated officers in the last seven days in a tragedy that is monumental,” Fetke said.
A Benton Harbor graduate, Kienzle served in the U.S. Army before working for many years as a member of the Benton Township Police Department. He then took a job as bailiff in the Berrien County Courthouse.
“Ron gave his all to the community — he gave a whole career to serving,” Bailey said. “He sacrificed his life just doing what he did every day his whole career.”
Fetke said his fondest memory of Kienzle is one the man would have wanted everyone to forget. Kienzle was doing surveillance of a convenience store after a recent string of robberies when he got hungry. After purchasing food inside the store, Kienzle unwittingly held the door for two people that would rob the store a short time later.
“Being the professional he was he did not give up working that extra detail until which time he assisted bringing these subjects to justice,” Fetke said. “But, he has been kidded about that from that day until probably the day that he passed.”
Bailey’s recollection of Kienzle was of him comforting children after an automobile accident.
“Ron was just a big guy that had a big heart,” he said. “You can’t find anybody that lives in Benton Township that he came across that didn’t respect him.”
Kienzle’s colleague, Zangaro, was laid to rest Friday. Both ceremonies were attended by hundreds of law enforcement and public safety officials from Michigan and beyond.
Fetke said the law enforcement community is a tight-knit one.
“As tragic as this is we know that Ron is looking down on us right now and he is probably smiling from ear to ear to know he had this type of a turnout in honoring him,” he said.
