KENOSHA COUNTY, Wis. — On the 102nd anniversary of his death, the Kenosha County Sheriff’s Office is honoring Deputy Jacob Keul, the first deputy in agency history to die in the line of duty.

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Deputy Keul, a native of Germany who immigrated to Kenosha as a child with his parents, served the community first as a firefighter before joining the Sheriff’s Office. He spent a decade with the Kenosha Fire Department between 1907 and 1917 before becoming a sheriff’s deputy.

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On June 11, 1922, Keul was responding to a call to make an arrest in the Trevor area. He was riding as the front-seat passenger in one of the department’s few marked vehicles when the driver lost control. The car rolled over several times near the intersection of Antioch Road and Wilmot Road. Keul was killed at the scene. Witnesses estimated the vehicle’s speed at only 25 miles per hour, underscoring the fragility of early automobiles and the rough conditions of county roads at the time.

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His death marked the first line-of-duty fatality in the Kenosha County Sheriff’s Office, which was still in its early days of motorized patrol. In the 1920s, deputies often rode motorcycles and patrolled unpaved roads. Squad cars were a rarity, poorly marked, and susceptible to the hazards of rural terrain.

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At the time of Keul’s service, the Kenosha County Jail had just 40 beds. The Sheriff lived on-site with his family, as was common in that era.

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Today, more than a century later, Keul’s sacrifice is not forgotten.

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“Please join us in remembering Deputy Keul and learning his story,” the Sheriff’s Office wrote in a public statement. “Deputy Keul gave his life in service to our community, and his memory remains a part of our department’s history.”

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Keul’s legacy is preserved not only through historical remembrance but also through a continued commitment by the Sheriff’s Office to honor its fallen. His name is etched into local memory as a symbol of dedication, bravery, and ultimate sacrifice.

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