Story, photos courtesy of Steve Nash – Special Contributor to BrownwoodNews.com

With laughter and tears, slain Eastland County Sheriff’s deputy David Bosecker was lovingly remembered Tuesday afternoon as a bench was unveiled in his honor at the Early Town Center Park.

Bosecker, who lived in Brownwood with his wife, Brenda, was shot and killed the night of July 21, 2023 while responding to a domestic violence call north of Rising Star. He was 57.

Bosecker’s 21-year law enforcement career included a stint as a game warden assigned to the Texas Parks and Wildlife office in Brownwood.

At the Early Town Center Park, about 40 people including family, law enforcement officers, friends and colleagues gathered near the memorial bench. The bench is inscribed with the words “Fallen Hero” in addition to Bosecker’s name and a replica of his Eastland County deputy’s badge.

Other memorial benches have been placed in Early’s McDonald Park and elsewhere in the Early Town Center Park, paid for by donations.

Early City Administrator Tony Aaron, standing next to Bosecker’s wife, Brenda, said he’d ask her if she had anyone in mind to say a prayer.

“She said she wanted to do that,” Aaron said. “It is a tremendous, tremendous honor for the city of Early to be able to honor Dave and other people like him, so this is a day of celebration. The last time that we all probably got together to honor Dave may have been a day of tragedy, a day of loss. This is about life.

“It’s an opportunity for us to come together and recognize the person that Dave was.”

After Brenda Bosecker led the prayer, Aaron — who previously worked in law enforcement — said he and David Bosecker had conversations in which Bosecker talked his love for the profession and his love of life.

Several law enforcement officers including Early police officer Taylor Fletcher told stories about Bosecker. Fletcher said he was working at the state park and was not yet a police officer when he met Bosecker.

“I hadn’t even finished school,” Fletcher said. “Dave was always there for me. He was always my inspiration — one of my inspirations to want to be a cop. He was always there up to the end. You could always count on Dave. Somebody would come talk to him about anything.

“I think Dave is the perfect example of somebody who had been doing this for a long time. Had kind of seen a little bit of everything. And despite how depressed or burned out or tired we may get of this, Dave never showed any of that. He was always happy, fun. He was the guy that everybody wanted to work with. And if we ever need an example of how we want to be after we’ve been doing this for 20 years, Dave is who we should aspire to try and be like.”

Brenda Bosecker told stories about her late husband that were at times funny, at times poignant and always heartfelt.

“He would pray with me,” she said. “The thing that I miss the most is, every night when we went to bed, we held hands till we fell asleep. When we were going on vacation, we held hands while he was driving. When we walked down the street, we held hands.

“And when he died, I didn’t have a hand to hold on to. And it’s hard. I miss him every single day. He was so good to my son. He treated him like he was his. He bought him his first pickup, paid for his college. I could go on and on with the stories. He was good to me.”

Brenda Bosecker described the evening of July 21, 2023.

“He always called me when he got close to May,” she said. “He would tell me he was on his way home. And I knew when to have supper with him. So he called me and he said ‘I’m starving.’

“I said, ‘well, what do you want?’ He said, ‘I want two hamburgers.’ And I said, ‘okay. Call me when you get to May.’ Because that’s when I’d start cooking. And the call never came. And the doorbell rang, and I knew what it was.”

After Bosecker finished speaking, Aaron said, “I think the good thing about this is, the stories don’t have to stop here. So when you tell that story to other people, we keep honoring the memory of Dave and what he did for us, not just as a police officer, but as an individual and person, as a friend.”