Sheriff Brand wraps up his 16 years of service

By Carol Boynton
Lewiston Journal Editor

Winona County will swear in a new sheriff in January, and as they start their new term, others will end theirs.
Sheriff Brand will retire as Ron Ganrude will take on the new Sheriff title in January.
Brand started his career with the Winona County Sheriff’s Office 16 years ago but served in the Winona County Sheriff’s Department since 1984.
Brand says, “I’ve been pretty happy with my job. If I had to do it all over again, I’d do this very same job all over again. I have no regrets about it whatsoever. I love the people in the community and I wanted to make a difference.”
During his years he says he has seen a lot of tragedy. But when that tragedy came unexpectedly to families in the county...Brand was there. He was there to show respect and a loving faithful heart to members of the tragedy. He would stand by them as they would have to endure the news of the loss of a loved one. He would be there by their side in times of heartache. He would sit at a hospital bedside with survivors and attend funerals. Brand brought his faith in God and his love and respect for others to every scene he ever was a part of.
Sheriff Brand was never afraid to show his emotion, in times of loss it was common to see tears streaming down his cheeks as he stood by the family who would mourn the loss of their loved one.
He would be the one to enter the home to bring the compassion and heartfelt outpouring of love to the family and represent a compassionate community after a tragic accident. He would spend countless hours with search and rescue teams and after hours work to find other rescue teams that would offer their services available to help out and schedule daily searches, especially when the drownings in the Mississippi occurred.
He shared, “I only wish I could have brought closure to the case when the newborn baby “Angel” was found floating in the Mississippi River in 2011. Brand did everything physically possible to find the family of the the funeral for “Baby Angel. He and his wife Pam, even had the baby baptized. “I can’t get over that loss,” he shared. “The case is still open and that really saddens me that no one came forward to claim that beautiful, innocent and precious baby. I really felt someone had to come forward so I took it into my own hands to provide the proper burial for such a sweet little child of God,” said Brand.
Brand said, “It brought me a little peace knowing that hundreds of people showed up at that funeral. The outpouring of love and compassion was shared with the law enforcement community and the precious baby. That memory of seeing that child pulled from the river will stick with me forever.”
Most that know Sheriff Brand well, know that he has a deeply rooted spiritual side. That side of him gives him the strength and courage to get through those tough times. He relies on God to help with those burdens and counts on God to uplift his own strength during the toughest of times. He passes the burden to God and then he digs in deep to help the families of those tragedies.
He continued to work countless hours during the car that entered the Mississippi Riven in January of 2014, killing all four. He worked the Dresbach Dam in 2007 in search of the Hmong family of four. At every scene, Brand goes the extra mile to thank everyone for their help and the hours put in at the scene to bring that closure for the families.
Over the years Sheriff Brand initiated rescue teams, brought canines into the department, started up the Winona County Posse and brought new technologies into their systems but he gives the credit to all others that work in the department and the constant efforts that they all put forward to make it all work for the benefit of the community.
Since November 8th, a Wisconsin man disappeared during a late-night fishing trip on the Mississippi River. The 66-year-old sheriff has been coordinating the search every day since then and continues to be at the scene in hopes to bring closure for the family. Volunteers have been on hand early morning and stay until dark just about every night in hopes of finding the missing before the river freezes over. Brand states, “If we have to stop...I will be a volunteer with the search team in the spring to find him. It’s so important for the family to bring their loved one home.”
Sheriff Brand was able to secure funding for a $146,000 underwater robot for the county. A device that has helped in locating other missing persons in the tragic river accidents. $11,000 of that money was donated by people who saw the difference that technology made in recovery situations. Including $5,000 by the Lanesboro community when they lost three of their citizens, Lanesboro High School graduates Matthew Erickson, Blake Overland and Andrew Kingsbury to a drowning from a January 5th accident.
Sheriff Brand will retire, “Yep, I know my honey-do list has grown very long at home. And sooner or later I’ll try to get those things done. But I now should have plenty of time to be with my wife and family and I can’t forget my three horses! Times will change. But I also know a very good man will take over my duties as Sheriff. Ron Ganrude is a good man and I know I leave things in very good hands at the office.”
Best wishes for a happy, healthy retirement go out to Sheriff Dave Brand, a sheriff that gave his heart and compassion with every situation for 16 years for Winona County!