DECATUR -- It was a somber occasion as family members, friends, city officials and members of the law-enforcement community gathered in Decatur Cemetery on Friday, June 5, to remember a Decatur constable who gave his life in the line of duty on June 5, 1951.
In December of 2014, members of the Setser family approached then mayor Charles Linam with a petition requesting that one of Decatur's street be renamed in honor of the fallen officer. During the May 11 city council meeting, Mayor Bob Tharp presented an ordinance renaming East Street to Sester Street. The city council passed the ordinance.
The ceremony on Friday began with the lowering of the cemetery flag to half mast by Jeremy Luker, Decatur's fire chief. Shortly thereafter, four members of the Decatur Fire Department marched in and assembled at attention around the flagpole as Amy Milliken sang the National Anthem. Jimmy Roberts and Frank Severn from the Decatur chapter of the Veterans of Foreign Wars led the assembly in the Pledge of Allegiance. At the completion of the Pledge, Rob Hopkins, Decatur Fire Department chaplain and a member of the Setser family, offered up the opening prayer.
Then it was time to relive June 5, 1951. David Sutton, Decatur city councilman, recounted the events that led to the shameless act that took Setser's life. The incident took place only a few hundred feet away from where the ceremony was held. Constable Setser had arrested a man at the poultry plant who was drinking and unruly. Setser walked the man to his home on Maple Street with the intention of coming back and taking him to Bentonville the next day because the sheriff's office had no one available to pick up Setser's prisoner and because Setser was needed in Decatur due to the ongoing unrest at the plant.
It was then that shots rang out in Decatur. Setser was shot five times in the back and lay dying in the front yard of his assailant's home.
Sam Reyna, Benton County constable and president of the Arkansas Constable Association, offered a few words in honor of Setser and the duties Setser performed during his time as Decatur's constable.
James Jessen, Benton County deputy and Decatur councilman, read a letter from Congressman Steve Womack, who was unable to attend. In his letter, Womack praised Setser for his commitment to enforcement of the law and to the people of Decatur.
Kenneth Setser, Jr., Lester Kenneth Setser's son, spoke on behalf of his family. He recalled the work that a few of his family members did to collect signatures from all over the United States and Canada. Setser thanked Mayor Tharp and the Decatur council members for their efforts to make this moment possible.
"It is only fitting that East Street be renamed after my father," Kenneth Setser said. "This street runs along the land that was once the Setser family farm."
Then Kenneth Sester led his family in the bell-ringing ceremony. The bell tolled 64 times, once for every year since the constable's death in 1951.
Tharp read the ordinance of the city council, renaming East Street to Setser Street. Then Setser, with the help of Tharp, unveiled the new Setser Street sign.
The program concluded with Luker raising the flag back to full mast and the benediction delivered by councilwoman Linda Martin.
"I can't thank the Benton County Constables and the Decatur VFW enough for their participation in remembering my father," said Setser. "These guys do so much for the community and get very little recognition for their effort."
For those family members and friends who remember the tragic events of June 5, 1951, this ceremony brings just a little closure to the life of a Decatur constable, taken at the age of 32.
On June 8, the two signs marking both ends of Setser Street were put in place by city workers.
General News on 06/10/2015