Miscellaneous

Milwaukee man who worked as police officer until age 87 dies

The Associated Press 

MILWAUKEE — Andrew F. Anewenter, who worked as a police detective lieutenant until he was 87, 
has died. 

Anewenter retired in March after nearly 61 years with the Milwaukee Police Department. 
Before retiring, he was credited as the department’s longest-serving officer and one of 
the oldest active police officers in the country. President Bush personally congratulated 
Anewenter last year on his years of service, which included protecting Presidents Truman,
Ford and Nixon when they visited Milwaukee. No public service has been held for Anewenter, 
but his wife, Dolores, said she and the couple’s three children hope to arrange a way for 
people to remember him because he “loved what he was doing.” “This was very sudden,” she 
said of his death a number of days ago, declining to discuss details.  Anewenter started 
with the department June 1, 1942, after going to chiropractic school and trying his hand 
at sales and physical therapy. He took the police exam on a friend’s dare. “Andy,” as many 
called him, worked every shift, walked the beat, patrolled the city and investigated murders, 
assaults, thefts, counterfeiting, drugs and a plane crash. 


“My attitude is good. And that bounces back to you,” he once said of his longevity. 
“You treat some people well, and you receive the blessings of some people.” 
In 1949, Anewenter saved his partner’s life when he shot and killed a burglary suspect 
who had taken the other officer’s gun. “My partner was so grateful that for six months 
after that he picked me up at my home for work,” Anewenter said of Norman Duemling, 
who died in 1957. At various times, Anewenter also held leadership positions with 
the Wisconsin Polygraph Examiners’ Society, the South Division Civic Association and 
the Sunday Morning Breakfast Club. He was a mentor to many fellow officers — 
and supervisors. “Overall, he made the department a better place,” said Jerry Wiesmueller,
a retired Milwaukee police lieutenant. 

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The man to have the longest tenure as chief of police was Thomas
E. Hawley. Hawley, the son of Irish immigrants, was born in Green 
Bay in 1866. At the age of 27, Hawley became a police officer  
for the city of Fort Howard, under the command of Marshal Theo  
Leicht. After the consolidation of the two cities, Hawley continued  
on with the newly combined department. Hawley was with the new 
department a little over two years when he was promoted to captain. 
One year later, on April 11, 1899, he was appointed as chief of   
police. He was 33 years old and had been in law enforcement six   
years with Green Bay. When he took command, Hawley had 10 men  
on his department. At the end of his tenure as chief, the department 
had grown to 48 men, a matron, and one records clerk. His successful 
career spanned 53 years, with 46 of those being in command as  
chief. His tenure as chief took him from the turn of the century  
and through the Great Depression, World War I and World War II. 
He retired on May 31, 1946, at the age of 80.  One of the more colorful 
careers in the department’s history belongs to Detective Lt. August 
"Gus" Delloye. Delloye, the son of Belgian immigrants, was born and raised
in Green Bay. He began his career at the Green Bay Police Department 
on May 1, 1916. He retired May 1, 1956, at the age of 70, with 
40 years in law enforcement. Delloye’s career saw him twice wounded  
in the line of duty. Both cases remain unsolved.

Crazy Laws:

Recently two high school seniors published a book titled "You May Not Tie an Alligator to a Fire Hydrant" (Free Press, 2002) about dumb laws. Boulder had some as well. Two were:

• It was illegal to carry a lunch pail down Pearl Street.
• It was illegal for anyone under the age of 21 to grab on to a moving train.

There were probably others as well.

Two examples from the book mentioned above are:

• In North Dakota no one can be arrested on the Fourth of July.
• In Galveston, Texas playing Frisbee on a beach is illegal.