MISSOURI STATE HIGHWAY PATROL
a division of the
DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY

Troop C Headquarters- 891 Technology Drive, Weldon Spring, MO 63304


NEWS RELEASE

For further information please contact: Corporal Jeff Wilson
636-300-2800 ext. 3334
C010975
December 28, 2009

EMPHASIS: Visitation And Funeral Information For Corporal Dennis E. Engelhard


Missouri State Highway Patrol Corporal Dennis E. Engelhard, 49, of St. Louis, was struck by a vehicle and killed on Friday, December 25, 2009, while working a non-injury traffic crash on Interstate 44 east of Eureka, near St. Louis.

The funeral service will be Wednesday, December 30, 2009, at 2 p.m. at the Park Baptist Church Fellowship Building, 121 East Park, Brookfield, MO, with Pastor David Blakely and Pastor Michael Parris officiating. A public visitation will begin at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, December 29, at Wright-Baker-Hill Funeral Home, 1201 West Helms Brookfield, MO. The family will receive friends from 4 p.m. until 7 p.m. Memorial contributions may be made to The MASTERS (Missouri Association of State Troopers Emergency Relief Society) or Christ Church Cathedral, through the Wright-Baker-Hill Funeral Home, PO Box 496, Brookfield, MO 64628.

“Cpl. Engelhard embodied the very best of the Missouri State Highway Patrol--dedicated public service to the people of Missouri,” said Missouri Department of Public Safety Director John M. Britt. “In addition to serving almost 10 years with the Patrol, Dennis worked as a paramedic and as a flight paramedic. In all, he spent a quarter of a century bravely and selflessly helping to save lives and assisting those in need. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family.”

“The Patrol family has suffered a tremendous loss this holiday season,” said Colonel James F. Keathley, superintendent of the Missouri State Highway Patrol. “We mourn with Dennis’ family and the many citizens of Missouri. Our continued thoughts and prayers are extended to the Engelhard family.”

Cpl. Engelhard was born in Brookfield, on November 24, 1960, the son of Jim and Marge (O’Dell) Engelhard. He was a graduate of Kirksville High School and had attended Northeast Missouri State University (now Truman State University) in Kirksville, and Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar. He had worked as a paramedic in Kirksville and Springfield, and had worked as a flight paramedic for Cox Air Care in Springfield. Cpl. Engelhard began his career with the Missouri State Highway Patrol in 2000, as a member of the 77th Recruit Class.

He had been a member of the Park Baptist Church in Brookfield, and the Fellowship Baptist Church in Kirksville. He currently was a member of Christ Church Cathedral in St. Louis.

Survivors include his parents, Jim and Marge Engelhard, of Excelsior Springs, MO; one brother (and sister-in-law) Dan and Kelly Engelhard and their children, Jenna, Jacob, and Jackson, all of Oak Grove; three aunts, Carol Kearns and her husband, Junior, of Brookfield, Frances Smart and her husband, Donald, of San Diego, CA, and Bernice Engelhard, of Marceline, MO; and many loving relatives.

Cpl. Engelhard was preceded in death by his grandparents, Elgin and Mabel Engelhard, and John and Ola O’Dell.

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