MARSHFIELD, WI (WSAU) — It’ll be ‘a little bit of history’ in Marshfield on Friday night when Beell Stadium hosts its final high school football game ever. A special half-time ceremony at the game will honor the stadium’s history, and its namesake for the past 78 years – fallen Marshfield police officer Fred Beell.
According to Assistant Marshfield Police Chief Patrick Zeps, “The plans are that we’re going to have an officer here at the Marshfield Police Department speak a little bit about the history of the stadium and how the stadium got its name; kind of in honor to Fred Beell and everything that he stood for.”
Beell was a former ‘world-famous’ champion wrestler, who on August 5th, 1933 became the department’s only officer killed in the line of duty. Zeps explained that, “He responded to a burglary here at what used to be the Marshfield Brewery, and he surprised a burglar in there, and he was shot and killed.”
Also at that half-time ceremony, the Marshfield P.D.’s Honor Guard will be on hand with a 21-gun salute, along with the department’s recently acquired ‘Armored Rescue Vehicle’ which will be on display.
“It’s really kind of a nice send-off and a remembrance of where the stadium got its name, and the importance of it,” Zeps said of the ceremony. “So we would encourage anybody to come out and enjoy the game, and take in a little bit of history.”
Replacing Beell Stadium will be a new multi-million dollar stadium that’s breaking ground in Marshfield this fall, and that should be completed in time for next year’s high school football season.
