This weekend, family and friends of Eric Stein will pay their final respects to the Keokuk County Sheriff’s Sergeant who was killed in the line of duty on Monday. The 39-year-old Stein was shot to death while investigating a case near Sigourney.

Stein’s visitation tonight (5-8p.m.) and funeral tomorrow (1p.m.) will both take place at Sigourney High School. The What Cheer resident was a standout athlete during his time at Tri-County High School in the early 1990s. His baseball coach at the time was Steve Robertson. He remembers Stein as a hard worker.

“He was competitive and just an overall good individual. He strived to be the best in whatever he did,” Robertson said. “That carried on after graduation in the success that he had and the endeavors he in before his life was shortened.”

Stein served with the Keokuk County Sheriff’s Department for nearly 11 years. Robertson wasn’t surprised Stein chose a career in law enforcement following high school. “He cared for people. He strived to be the best for himself, but also for his family, his neighbors and his friends. He really cared about people,” Robertson said.

The man who shot Stein, 53-year-old Jeff Krier, was killed by other law enforcement officers. Krier’s family has said he struggled for three decades with mental illness. He was denied admission into a mental institution in March. Governor Branstad has ordered all flags in Iowa be flown at half-staff from noon today until 8a.m. Monday.

In addition, Branstad plans to sign a proclamation declaring Sergeant Stein a “hero of the state of Iowa.”

By John Martensen, KGRN, Grinnell