MEDAL OF HONOR

Debonie Guenther was caught off guard last week as she accepted the highest honor given out to any law enforcement officer in the county on behalf of her late husband who died in the line of duty in 2013.“It’s an honor to get the medal, but it makes me miss him so much more,” Guenther said choking back tears. “It’s humbling for me to be the wife of somebody who was so well respected and looked up to,” she added.Guenther’s husband, Loring, 43, was a captain in the Dodge County Sheriff’s Office when he collapsed of a heart attack just after his shift ended in September 2013. Even though he was off duty and at home when he died, the state has ruled his death was work-related, allowing his family to collect in the line of duty death benefits.On Nov. 17, Sheriff Scott Rose presented Loring’s widow with a Medal of Honor, which is given out posthumously to someone who gives their life in the line of duty. Rose made the presentation during the first ever awards banquet in front of a packed house of sheriff’s office employees