BEATTY — Nye County Sheriff Sharon Wehrly was in Beatty Sunday, Oct. 29, to attend Beatty Days and participate in the dedication of a memorial to fallen officers.
The “memory stone,” in front of the Beatty Justice Center, is the third such monument to be erected.
The first was in Pahrump. The second was dedicated during Jim Butler Days in Tonopah this year.
The sheriff says it is “the last, for now.”
Each of the stones bears the name of eight officers who died while on duty, beginning with Deputy Constable Richard Ryan, who died from gunfire in 1867. Five of the eight officers died from gunfire.
Wehrly says she believes in the importance of Nye County History. “Most kids don’t know what happened here,” she said. “People lived and died here. They died for the community, upholding law and order.”
The sheriff says the fallen officers “believed in this county and the people of this county,” and that their sacrifice was “a form of selflessness it is hard to describe.”
The sheriff also took part in Beatty Days, among other things serving as an official judge for the event’s nationally-sanctioned chili contest.
Richard Stephens is a freelance writer living in Beatty.