Courtesy Photo From left to right, Raffi Kuredjian, Anahid Kuredjian, and Garo Kuredjian attended the ACC Criminal Justice Program Wall of Honor Dedication on May 1 in honor of family member Deputy Hagop “Jake” Kuredjian who was killed in the line of duty.

ALPENA — A new feature at Alpena Community College honors those who have fallen in the line of duty as police officers, deputies, and troopers.

On May 1, the Alpena Community College Foundation dedicated its new Criminal Justice Wall of Honor at Besser Technical Center on the campus of ACC, as announced in a Wednesday press release.

The memorial honors law enforcement personnel with a connection to Alpena Community College who gave their lives in the line of duty.

The wall is located across the hallway from ACC’s criminal justice program classroom. It features plaques with the names, pictures, and stories of the six law enforcement personnel who have memorial scholarships in their name at the ACC Foundation. Those personnel are Sheriff Duane Badder, Officer Gerald Carpenter, Trooper Bryon Egelski, Trooper Larry Forreider, Deputy Hagop “Jake” Kuredjian, and Deputy Ryan Seguin, the press release stated.

In addition, the memorial includes the names of seven law enforcement officers with connections to Northeast Michigan who gave their lives in the line of duty. Those officers are Sheriff Charles Lynch, Patrol Officer J. Leslie Ward, Deputy Sheriff Carl J. Leslie Ward, Sergeant Paul Cole, Deputy Sheriff Brian Meilbeck, Trooper Jeffery Werda, and Trooper Paul Butterfield II.

The wall is designed to change throughout the year. Approximately every two months, the plaque of a different honoree will move to an illuminated display case on the edge of the memorial. It will be in that display case that visitors can learn more about the featured trooper, deputy, patrolman, or sheriff. The display case will feature pictures and personal artifacts of the fallen officers, allowing visitors to envision who those men were as people, according to the press release.

Each officer will be honored around the date of his “end of watch”, a term that typically refers to the end of a shift, but has a more solemn meaning as the date of death for an officer fallen in the line of duty.

The effort was led by a dedicated committee of volunteers including retired ACC Foundation Executive Director Penny Boldrey, retired ACC Foundation Executive Assistant Barb Szczesniak, ACC history and political science instructor Tim Kuehnlein, ACC criminal justice program director Rob Mills, and Alpena County Sheriff Deputy Mike Lash. Under the direction of ACC Facilities Director Kurt Konieczny, the college’s maintenance staff built and painted the wall.

The memorial is open to the public Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

For more information about the ACC Criminal Justice Wall of Honor or the Alpena Community College Foundation, please contact ACC Executive Director Mary Eagan at eaganm@alpenacc.edu or visit discover.alpenacc.edu/foundation.

Reagan Voetberg can be reached at 989-358-5683 or rvoetberg@TheAlpenaNews.com.