Beulah Hartwig (1913 – 2010)

On Jan. 8, 2010, Beulah Maria Hartwig, Retired Deputy Chief of the Kenosha Police Department, died at the age of 96 in Kenosha, Wis., of natural causes.

She was kindly attended to by her three nieces during her final days and the expert staff of Kenosha Hospital. Beulah was born on June 8, 1913, in Kenosha, Wis., the second child of three to John Lofquist Hartwig (Tool and Dye Foreman at American Motors) and Carrie Maria Anderson Hartwig, first and second generation Swedes. Beulah attended Bain Elementary School and Washington Junior High School. She graduated in 1932 from Kenosha High School with plans to attend Augustana Hospital in Chicago to become a registered nurse. The sudden death of her mother that year put an end to those plans although she volunteered as a Red Cross nurse’s aid at Kenosha Hospital during World War II. Her father died in 1936.

Beulah worked for Langram’s Dairy for 10 years before applying to the Juvenile Division of the Kenosha Police Department. In 1944, Beulah began her long and distinguished career with the Kenosha Police Department and by Nov. 20, 1950, Beulah was awarded the rank of Sergeant.

In 1957 Beulah graduated from the Delinquency Control Institute at the University of Southern California and subsequently attended many educational institutions including the F.B.I. Law Enforcement Officers Training Schools. In recognition of this achievement and her outstanding police work, Beulah became a Lieutenant on March 1, 1958.

In 1959, Beulah organized the Police Youth Advisory Council in conjunction with the Wisconsin Youth Committee District #1 and the Schools and served as advisor to the Council for five years to promote juvenile decency.

In 1963 Beulah was promoted to Captain and head of the Juvenile Division and in 1977 she was made Deputy Chief of Police, one of the first women in the USA to achieve this rank. She retired in 1978, completing a career spanning 34 years.

Beulah Hartwig is survived by her nieces, Christine Carrie Gilbertson and Carol Lee Hartwig (Raymond Demarchi), and her niece by marriage, Cara Parmentier (John); second-cousins, Kent Anderson and Lance Anderson and families, and Twyla and Glenda Anderson and families.

Beulah was predeceased by her older brother, Clarence in 1925, her younger brother Chet in 2007, and Chet’s wife Margaret in 2005.

Beulah is also remembered by close friends, particularly Olga Kamin and her dog, Penny, who were caring friends to Beulah at Regency Manor. Thanks also to those residents and staff who showed great kindness to Beulah at Regency Manor during the last five years.