Officer Steven Reighard, Sr. - Iowa Dept. of Natural Resources - True Life Hero

Steven Reighard, Sr.
- Jan. 08, 2021 -

(30331)

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IA Dept. of Natural Resources Patch

Resided:	Estherville IA, USA
Born:	Jan. 09, 1961
Fallen:	Jan. 08, 2021
Race/Sex:	Caucasian Male / 59 yrs. of age
	Agency
Dept:	Iowa Dept. of Natural Resources 502 East 9th Street, 4th Floor Des Moines, IA 50319 USA (515)725-8200
County:	Polk
Dept. Type:	State/Law Enforcement
Hero's Rank:	Officer
Sworn Date:	Unk
FBI Class:	Death - Biological
Weapon Class:	COVID-19
Agency URL:	Click Here
Badge:	C372
On The Job:	16 years
Duties:	assigned to Dickinson County

Bio: Steven Reighard, the son of Eleanor Reighard and Jim Sandberg was born in Spirit Lake, Iowa. He died on Friday, January 8, 2021 at Avera McKennan Hospital in Sioux Falls, South Dakota at the age of 59.

Steve grew up in Estherville and graduated from Estherville High School in 1979. He then attended Hamilton Business College and received his accounting degree.

In 1986, he was united in marriage to Sandi Patterson. The couple made their home in Estherville. Steve continued his education at Iowa Lakes Community College in Environmental Science and received his Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from South Dakota State University. During his education he worked part time with Iowa DNR Fisheries and upon graduation in 2005 he began his career as Park Ranger stationed at Gull Point State Park. In 2012, he began his role as Iowa Conservation Officer in Dickinson County. Steve was to be honored with Officer of the Year 2020 for the State of Iowa.

Steve loved spending time outdoors where he felt connected with himself, nature, and God. He enjoyed hunting, fishing, trapping, Denver Broncos, playing cards, helping to plan and participate in wild-game feed, making others laugh, family vacations and watching his grand-kids participate in various sports and activities.

Above all, Steve was a family man. He was humbled by how close he was with his family and the many friends that became family. He never met a stranger and often would say that he didn't believe in handshakes, only hugs. Everyone who had the opportunity to receive a 'Steve Hug' knows there is nothing like it.

Survived by:

Sandi - Wife
and son

Fatal Incident Summary

Offender:	No Info
Location:	Dickinson County, IA USA
Summary:	Conservation Officer Steve Reighard died from complications as the result of contracting COVID-19 during a presumed exposure while on duty. ==================================================================== COVID-19, a flu-like virus, originated in Wuhan, China. Worth a mention, the Chinese Government had a biological research facility in that very province. At this point, it was widely held that COVID-19 was a bat-coronavirus and the first case was discovered in Wuhan in Oct. 2019. On Dec. 31, 2019, Chinese authorities alerted the World Health Organization of pneumonia cases in Wuhan City, Hubei province, China, with an unknown cause. Jan 7, 2020 Chinese authorities identify a new type of coronavirus (called novel coronavirus or nCoV). Despite deaths and an entire Chinese Province(Hubei) quarantined by the Chinese Government, the World Health Organization(WHO) simply declares a global public-health emergency. Despite this serious understatement, on January 31st, President Trump bans foreign nationals from entering the US if they were in China within the prior two weeks. Despite a large public outcry of racism, this move likely saved 1000's of American lives, it would later be deemed. After a full blown global infection, and an entire country being declared on 'Lockdown'(Italy), on March 11th, WHO declared the outbreak a pandemic. This same day, President Trump bans all travel from 26 European countries. On Mar. 13th, a US national emergency is declared over the novel coronavirus outbreak. On Mar. 23rd, New York City confirms 21,000 cases, making it the biggest epicenter of the outbreak in the US. On Mar. 31, more than 1/3 of humanity is under some form of lockdown. On Apr. 2nd, the world passes one million COVID-19 infections. On April 7th, roughly 95% of all Americans are under lockdown, as 42 states issue stay-at-home orders. The entire American economy has ground to a halt. Congress passed laws awarding trillions in grants, loans and other types of assistance to the American working population and businesses.
Source:	Website Click

Last Updated: Feb. 02, 2021