Chapter 30 - Up North

Originally published October 30, 2015.

Many hours later after stopping for lunch and a couple breaks to stretch their legs, Pete's car came to a stop in front of the Chetek Police Department at 5 p.m.

He had called Officer Berg when they were an hour away.  Rick greeted both men as they got of the car.

"Good afternoon, gentlemen.  I'm Rick Berg.  I'm sorry for your loss."

"Thanks, Rick.  You can call me Pete.  This is Els Brandt, Jack's closest friend.  I got in touch with the Roseville Funeral Home, so I'm hoping they made contact up here already."

"Yes, sir.  If you could follow me please, we want to share what we've learned."

The three walked up the three steps and inside to a small conference room.  A pitcher of ice water was on the table surrounded by souvenir Chetek glassware.  Rick was pouring water as the Coroner walked in.

"Hello.  I’m the county coroner, Dr. Milt Bradley.  Thanks for coming up here under such sad circumstances."

"Thank you, doctor.  What can you tell us?"

"Well, I'm not sure how much information you have, so I'll tell you what we learned.  Mr. Beeman apparently woke very early this morning and decided to take a soak in his cabin's hot tub.  He suffered from a heart attack, a big one, and lost consciousness.  He had very little water in his lungs, so we've ruled out drowning.  He died very quickly.  The resort owners noticed he wasn't out around the cabin around 7:30 and investigated.  The owner, Mr. Petersen, found him and pulled him out of the tub and immediately began CPR.  EMT's continued life saving measures and treatment on the trip to the hospital, but it was too late."

Els and Pete sat for a moment absorbing the information.

Els spoke first, "So, we can ask the local funeral home to work with our funeral home in Roseville to take Jack back home then?"

"Yes, sir.  In fact, that's already underway.  The resort owners helped locate some of Mr. Beeman's clothes and they funeral home has him ready to transport.  My understanding is they will meet the van from Roseville tomorrow."

"Thank you, doctor,"  Pete turned to Officer Berg, "May we go to the resort? I'd like to thank the Petersen's and see this place.  We probably need to pick up Jack's things and plan how to return Jack's vehicle."

"Sure, Pete you can follow me out there."

"And, officer, we need a place to stay tonight.  I’m afraid I didn't make any arrangements."

"That's alright.  We took the liberty of securing a couple of hotel rooms here in town and a meal compliments of the local steakhouse whenever you're ready.   Shall we head to the resort?"

Pete and Els got in the car, waiting for the police car to pull around and lead the way. They talked about what to do next and how to notify Jack's nieces and nephews.  

Pete realized he needed to tell Emjay and let her know what happened.  First he wanted to compose himself and draft a message for station employees so they would hear the news before the rest of the county.

"Els, I'm glad you're here.  When we get to the resort, I need to take a few moments and put a short story together and call the station.  We can't be scooped on the death of the station owner and I need to let the folks working at the station know what's happened.  Could you talk with the Petersen's at the resort and see what needs to be done while I do that?"

"Sure, Pete.  That's no trouble, I was wondering when you might want to do that.  Since you're making calls, let me write down the names of the niece with whom Jack was closest.  If you call her, she can notify the rest of the family."

"Good idea, thanks Els, I kind of forgot about that."

In a couple of minutes they followed the police car onto the resort property and were transfixed by the site of the sun dropping into Lake Chetek.

Els got out and headed toward the lodge behind Officer Berg to meet the Petersens while Pete pulled out a folder with the names and numbers of everyone at the station.  First, he called Jack's niece, Helen who lives in Troy, Wisconsin.

"Hello, Helen?"

"Yes, this is she."

"Helen, my name is Pete Moss, I work with Jack Beeman."

"Oh, OK.  Is everything OK?"

"Well, Helen, I'm afraid not.  Jack took a weekend trip up to Chetek to go fishing and suffered a heart attack and died early this morning.  His friend Els and I drove up from Roseville to take care of things here."

There wasn't any sound from the other end of the line.

"Helen?"

"Yes, I'm sorry.  I just never thought Jack would go before me.  I'm sorry to hear the news."

"Me, too, Helen.  Me, too.  Would you be able to help me contact Jack's other nieces and nephews?  I don't have any of that information with me."

"Oh certainly, do you have any idea yet on the time or location for a funeral?"

Pete stopped.  "Well, I haven't gotten to that yet.  I think we'll try for next Saturday, if it's OK I'll get that information to you as soon as it's set."

"That's fine then, thank you Pete."

Pete hung up the phone and began working his way through his story about Jack.

WRSE/WMJM founder and owner Jack Beeman died today of a sudden heart attack while in Chetek, Wisconsin for a fishing trip.   Beeman, 75, was well-known in Roseville and through-out Wisconsin for his leadership in broadcasting.  Prior to becoming involved with radio, Beeman was a member of the Wisconsin State Patrol, rising to the level of Lieutenant before his retirement.   Beeman is a veteran who served his country in the Korean Conflict.  Funeral arrangements are pending.

He paused a moment to review the story.  There's a lot more to this story than these few words, he thought, but we can do that over the coming week on air.

Pete picked up the phone to call Jeff, Steve, Kevin, and Ken before calling Emjay.  He wanted his four friends and colleagues to spread the word to the rest of the staff and let them know Emjay will be the person to deliver the news on air as soon as she could get to the station.

"Hello, Emjay?  This is Pete."

"Hi, Pete.  I knew it was you - ever hear of caller I.D.?"

"Thanks, kid.  You're right.  OK, are you sitting down?"

"Yes..." came her reply not liking how this sounded.

"Emjay, Jack died this morning of a heart attack in his cabin up in Chetek."

"Oh my goodness!  I'm so sorry!"

"You and me both, Emjay.  I've made calls to Jack's niece who is calling his family and Jack's friend Els came up here with me.  I've called the guys at the station who are sharing it with the rest of the staff.  I have a short story which I just emailed you.  I'd like you to get to the station so it can be broadcast after the top of the hour news on both stations.  After that, please share this story with the Associated Press."

"OK, I've got it.  Are you sure you don't want to be punched in through the board live to tell it yourself?"

"No, Emjay, I want you to do it.  Els and I have a lot to do up here and we'll drive down tomorrow.  If you can help me with this too, I want to have a station meeting Tuesday night to talk with everybody.  Can you get that on the schedule?"

"Will do, Pete."

"Great.  Thanks, Emjay.  Any questions?"

"No, I think I'm good."

"Thanks, good-night then.  I'll call you tomorrow."

"Take care, Pete.  I'm sorry for your loss - I know you were close to Jack."

"Thank you Emjay.  Good-bye."

As he hung up the phone, Els got in the front seat.  "Pete, we've got all of Jack's stuff picked up and in his truck.  The Petersen's will pull his boat out of the water and store it for us until we know what to do with it.  So, I think that's everything here.  They wouldn't bill us for the room. 

Why don't you head into town where we're going to stay tonight and I'll follow in Jack's vehicle. 

Then we can go eat and talk through what needs to be done next."

"Sounds like a good idea, Els.   I'm starving.  I'll see you in town.”

Just four chapters left... come back tomorrow at 9 for the next one.