Details

Collection Summary
Collection: FND002 - SHSND Foundation - North Dakota Peace Officer Memorial Program
Series: Tribute
Folder: DIG
Item: 05953
Title: Steven R. Kenner
Date:
Creator:
Inscription/Marks: 2/1/1955
Summary: Steven R Kenner, 56, Bismarck, died July 8, 2011, at Medcenter One in Bismarck. Funeral services were held July 14, 2011 at the Bismarck Civic Center with Rev. Craig Schweitzer officiating. Burial was in the North Dakota Veterans Cemetery in Mandan, ND. Steven R. Kenner was born February 1, 1955, in Denver, CO, the son of Harry and Julia (Jones) Kenner. He graduated from high school and trained for a career in law enforcement in Colorado before moving to Bismarck, ND, in 1979, where he would become Officer #40 for the Bismarck Police Department. In September 1981, Steve enlisted in the North Dakota National Guard to pursue training as a military police officer. He completed his basic training in December 1981 and was quickly promoted to SP4 in September 1982, and then to SSG in July 1983. He went on to have a successful and decorated enlistment in the North Dakota National Guard. Steve was discharged as a 1st Lieutenant in May 1994. While working at the Bismarck Police Department in 1979, he met a beautiful young lady who would eventually become his wife. Steve and Debbie Sandmeier were married on March 10, 1992, and he continued to work at the Bismarck Police Department while raising their family, James, Stephen, Kailey, and Tayler. Steve was active in the Fraternal Order of Police as a charter member since 1993. It was not uncommon for Steve to take on extra duties for causes he believed in, and quickly became treasurer of the Missouri Valley Fraternal Order of Police. Before long, his work ethic and commitment to law enforcement found him as a national trustee representing the North Dakota State Lodge. He enjoyed his involvement in the FOP and was proud to be a law enforcement officer. Steve often pursued other challenges in addition to his work as an officer. One of his proudest accomplishments was becoming the first of only two in the state of North Dakota to receive the ACTAR (Accreditation Commission Traffic Accident Reconstruction) license. He started his own business, C.A.R (Collision Analysis Reconstruction), and was well-known and respected for his work by courts throughout the state. He was also a member of the Midwest Association of Traffic Accident Investigators and several other collision investigation fraternities. Steve received honors and awards for his work as a police officer throughout his career. Some usual and others not so usual. In 1983, Steve received a letter in his personnel file from his shift commander for writing the highest number of DUIs for the year. In 1988 he received the Life Saving Award, and in 2000 he was promoted to SGT. In 1994 he was nominated by the Bismarck Tribune for “Outstanding Person 1993” and has numerous letters of appreciation from many of the citizens he protected and served, (and some whom he arrested) over his 32-year career. Most recently he received a certificate of appreciation from the NDNG Military Police Battalion 191 for “Outstanding Performance and Undaunted Professionalism” for his work during the 2011 flood operations. Missing him deeply will be his wife of 19 years, Debbie and his children, James, 27, now living in Orlando, FL, Stephen, 18, Kailey, 14, and Tayler, 9, all of Bismarck. Steve also will be missed by his father in-law, Emil Sandmeier (Bonnie); brother-in-law, Bryan Sandmeier (Valeri) of Tennessee; Nancy Sandmeier and their children, Brandon, Britney (Joe) and son Benjamin of Kansas; aunt and uncle, Daniel and Paulette Petersen and their daughter, Mallory, her fiancé, Chris Dekker, South Dakota, Darlene Sandmeier, Louisiana, and Betty and LeRoy Sandmeier, South Dakota. While he would deny a fondness for them, he loved the family cats as much as they loved him. Steven was preceded in death by his parents and mother-in-law, Gladys Sandmeier. Steven will be sadly missed by his family, friends, brothers and sisters-in-law, his law enforcement friends, and the community he proudly and honorably protected for 32 years.
Red ID: FND_I_77348 Image ID: 509169 Image Notes: 10950 00002 05953

Collection: FND002 Digitized Images from Collection
Title: SHSND Foundation - North Dakota Peace Officer Memorial Program
Date:

Summary: The North Dakota Peace Officer Memorial Program honors fallen officers with highlights of their lives and careers.

Enter a subject or term in one or both of the “Search” boxes.

  • “Item Detail” searches the Title, Creator and Summary fields of all item-level records.
  • “Collection Number” searches the Collection Number field only and requires an exact match.

The “DETAILS” button provides additional information about an item, as well as the following options:

  • “Collection Summary” details the contents of the entire collection in which the selected item is located.
  • You can print the image and its corresponding details by selecting “Print".
  • “Digitized Images from the Collection” returns a list of all digitized items within that collection (available from the “Collection Summary” screen).

Click on image to expand/zoom the image view.

“Photobook home” takes you back to the main Photobook page where you can start a new search.

“Featured Collections” showcases new and/or popular collections and the digitized images within those collections.

Information on how to order copies is located here.

The collections preserved in the North Dakota State Archives include over a million images. Only a small percentage of these images have been digitized. This photo gallery provides a preview of the images that have been digitized.

For more information on the non-digitized images, please refer to the finding aids found on our website at history.nd.gov, or ask a member of our reference staff for assistance.