Martin County Sheriff's deputies escort daughter of deceased deputy to prom

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The Martin County Sheriff’s Office in Fairmont, Minnesota stepped up in a big way for a high school senior at her prom.

Hannah Petschke’s father, Deputy Chad Petschke, was a longtime member of the department, but he passed away off-duty last fall.

The department wanted to make sure he was there in spirit for Hannah's special night.

Last weekend, 11 uniformed members of the Martin County Sheriff’s Office joined Hannah for pictures and escorted her to the school. Two of them also walked with her through the Grand March. 

“First I was like ‘Oh, yeah, they’re joking,’” said Hannah. “I didn’t think they were actually going to do it. But I was like, ‘Oh sure, if you could that would be great.’ And they’re like, ‘No we’re actually going to do this.’ And I’m like, what?”

“It’s hard to explain, my heart was full, is what I would say, my heart was full,” said Kandice Petschke, Hannah’s mom. “That hasn’t happened for a little bit, so that was a nice feeling to say this is great, this is awesome.”

The deputies, after the Grand March, say they didn’t hang out too long because they didn't want to make it awkward to have a whole bunch of people in uniform in the prom.

Now, they’re trying to figure out what they can do to give Hannah a memorable graduation.