JANESVILLE (WKOW) -- A McFarland police officer who died in the line of duty in a car crash in 2015 was honored on Friday at Janesville Craig High School.
Officer Ryan Copeland graduated from Janesville Craig High School in 2000. He was inducted to the school's honor wall.
Copeland served in the U.S. Army until 2012. He joined the McFarland Police Department in 2013 as its first K-9 handler.
"It means a lot to me. It means a lot to our family," said Copeland's brother Jeff Meehan. "Especially that his legacy lives on. That's our main goal is to just have him be remembered and remembered for who he was, not necessarily what he did, but who he was as a person."
The others honored were Bob Arndt, who has been an integral part of the beef industry in Rock County since graduating in 1973. Dr. Anne Basting, a theater professor at UW-Milwaukee.
She has done award winning work researching the effects of providing access to the arts to aging adults with cognitive disabilities.
For more on this story: http://www.wkow.com/story/35214473/2017/04/21/janesville-craig-high-school-honors-officer-ryan-copeland