(Spirit Lake)– Today (Thurs.) marks a very somber anniversary for the Dickinson County Sheriff’s Office. It was 50 years ago a Dickinson County Sheriff’s Deputy lost his life while on active duty. Chief Deputy George Williamson was killed in a crash while responding to a call in Superior. Mike Harleman, who was also a Dickinson County Sheriff’s Deputy at the time, was with Williamson on that fateful call. He took time to express his condolences to the family of the other person that was involved in the accident…
“The Sierck family lost their father and so I’d like to give my condolences to the family of the Sierck family, my deepest condolences to them. It was a tragic day for a lot of us.”
Harleman recalls the events leading up to the crash…
“We had stopped at the Gingham Inn for supper and then from there George and I went to Terril to take care of some business there, some civil process business and also some criminal business that we had to do in Terril, and we got a phone call, or a radio call, that there was a personal injury accident involving a bicycle and an automobile in the town of Superior. And so we headed out of the town of Terril on the gravel road, lights and siren. Because of the accident I had severe injuries, head injuries, and body injuries and stuff. It took about a year to recover and my memory is gone. I have done my best to try and figure out what actually happened.”
Harleman says what he remembers the most about Williamson was the demeanor he had with the public…
“George taught me that you get a good relationship with these people you’re going to have people that are going to call you up and say hey, I heard something. George was just a good, good mentor of many things. I miss him. There’s not a day in my life that goes by that I don’t remember something that George said or something that George did or just the memories of George. It’s been 50 years. 19:19 hours on June 8th is when my wristwatch stopped. But there isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t remember George and how great of a person he was.”
Members of Williamson’s family were on hand, along with Dickinson County Sheriff Greg Baloun, Chief Deputy Tony Peterson and Okoboji Police Chief Jason Peterson to place a floral arrangement on Williamson’s grave during a ceremony today (Thursday) at the Okoboji Cemetery in Arnolds Park.
Williamson was also a veteran of the Korean War.
Members of the George Williamson family along with Chief Deputy Tony Peterson, Dickinson County Sheriff Greg Baloun and Okoboji Police Chief Jason PetersonChief deputy George Williamson
