Police Chief: Deceased Sgt. Stroh was 'Once-in-a-Lifetime Friend'

Chief of Police Jeff Long remembers a discussion he and Sgt. Steve Stroh had a few weeks ago, where Stroh was asking Long about some things going on in his life.

"He was asking me about some things I had going on at the time and I told him I felt kind of bad talking about it in the middle of his illness," Long recalled. "All he said to me was, 'That's what friends are for.' That's the kind of guy Steve was."

, following more than . That particular type of cancer attacks plasma cells in the bone marrow.

The Police Chief said his entire family was close to Stroh's, dating back to when they moved to Edina in 1975. His older brother, Steve Long, was also a close friend of Stroh, their parents played softball together and the two attended Benilde-St. Margaret's at the same time. 

Long said service to the community was the main theme of Stroh's life, whether it was his involvement with Boy Scouts or his many years as a police officer. Stroh had been a member of the for 25 years, since starting as a Community Service Officer back in 1987. 

In fact, it was Stroh who first convinced Long to consider a career in law enforcement.

"I was going to college, majoring in political science, and I started talking with Steve about this new job he was going to get as a Community Service Officer in Edina," Long said. "He was so excited about it that I decided to look into it as well, so we actually started as CSO's at around the same time."

Long praised Stroh's work for the department, referring to him as someone who was always willing to take on a new task. Stroh was one of the city's original D.A.R.E. instructors and was among the first bike patrol officers.

When he served as the department's Field Training Officer, Long said Stroh was focused on making sure new officers came into the profession with the "respect, dignity and honor required for the job."

"Young people come out of school really fired up, thinking it's going to be like CSI," Long said. "Steve taught them what this job is really all about, helping them get to know the community they serve on a daily basis."

After becoming a Sergeant within the department, Stroh was put in charge of vulnerable adult crimes. That position really highlighted his compassionate side, as Long said you could tell he really wanted to make sure that justice was served on people taking advantage of their parents and elderly neighbors.

Beyond their decades of service together, Long said Stroh was simply the sort of friend you could always count on when you needed him.

"More than anything, more than being a cop, to me he was just a once-in-a-lifetime friend," Long said. "Those don't come around too often."

Like Edina Patch on Facebook | Follow us on Twitter | Sign up for our daily newsletter