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Sisters seek donations for Ill. correctional officer memorial

Daughters of a former sheriff’s deputy and correctional officer, Arentia Osborn and Bonnie Mellendorf are raising $15K to build a memorial for first responders

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A sketch of the memorial.

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By C1 Staff

EFFINGHAM – The daughters of a longtime sheriff’s deputy and correctional officer are seeking funding to build a memorial to honor all police and fire personnel in the county.

Effingham Daily reports that Arentia Osborn and her sister Bonnie Mellendorf are fundraising $15,000, and are already halfway to their goal.

“We need about $6,500,” Osborn said.

Their late father, Earl Bannick, was an Effingham County sheriff’s deputy in the 1960s.

“We were sitting around talking about all the policeman who had been getting killed and the disrespect to those who were protecting our lives and property,” Osborn said of how they got the idea to create the memorial.

Funds can be sent to Effingham County Heroes Memorial Fund, Effingham County Community Foundation, P.O. Box 1211, Effingham, Illinois 62401.

Logos and names of several departments will be engraved on the memorial. The sisters hope to place the monument on the southeast corner of the old Effingham County Courthouse square by Nov. 30.

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