37 years and counting
Sheriff Ben Wolfinger ready to retire
Ben Wolfinger has worn a dozen hats in his storied career with the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office, now 37 years (as of April 1) and counting.
Jailer. Patrol deputy. Lieutenant. Commander of this and that, including the jail and operations. Major. Spokesman. And, for almost two terms, sheriff.
Sheriff Merf Stalder, his first boss, thought Ben was too short (5-foot-5) and wouldn’t go far in the department. But, in spring 1983, Stalder needed a jailer for the condemned old jail on Government Way. Pronto. Ben got the job. And kept landing promotions.
However, there’s one title that Ben has had for the last 17 years and plans to take into retirement: “Mr. Ben.” That’s the name the 3-year-olds in Ben’s Sunday School class at Real Life Ministries call him.
“Now that I have grandkids that age and older,” Ben told me, “they’re all my grandkids.”
The issues the tykes bring to Ben are small compared to grownup ones like murder and mayhem. But they’re important to them. They may argue over the color of Play-Doh that Ben hands out. Or one of them might not like goldfish crackers. Or another might want him to read to her. Ben takes it in stride and enjoys interacting with them.
Ben, who was baptized as a Christian at age 14, is living proof that kids still say the darnedest things.
One Sunday, he sat down in a pint-sized chair to read a Bible story to his pint-sized listeners. That prompted a 3-year-old girl to say: “Mr. Ben, your butt is too big for that chair.” Ben suppressed a laugh and said: “You’re right.”
What did you expect him to do? Cuff her?
Tricks of the Trade
Ben, who will be 59 in June, is the third of three top-notch sheriffs who have served Kootenai County, stretching back to January 1989. The other two? Pierce Clegg and Rocky Watson. Pierce taught him to never forget where he came from. And Rocky? Ben’s predecessor was the most political of the three. Rocky taught Ben how to work a crowd. For the Fourth of July parade, Rocky would park his car at the courthouse and then walk along the north side of Sherman Avenue, shaking hands and kissing babies. Then, he would climb into a patrol car, near the head of the parade, and wave to the crowd on the south side of the street. “By the end of the parade,” Ben said, “everyone had seen the sheriff.”
Odds, Ends & Ben
Anyone living in Kootenai County in May 2005 can guess Ben’s worst memory of his career: the Groene-McKenzie murders. Ben was the KCSD spokesman when the brutal killings occurred. He worked from 3:30 a.m. to 11 p.m., to be available for the East Coast TV news, the local nightly news, and everything in between. He describes the horrible case and ensuing work as “weeks of hell” …
Best Memory: Ben still recalls a man who credits him for saving his life by arresting him for drunken driving three months before. The man was checking in for his weekend in the old jail when he spotted Ben. “I’ve quit drinking,” he told Ben. “I’ve totally turned my life around” …
Unlike another sheriff in the region (cough, Darryl Wheeler of Bonner County), Ben considers Gov. Little’s shelter-in-place order to be legal. Therefore, he will enforce it. Says he: “We don’t want to be hard-nosed unless someone is totally being a ding-dong.”
Ben was a special deputy at North Idaho College before Sheriff Stalder hired him as a jailer …
Ben has two sons, Adam and Brad. Adam is the night manager for Hayden Albertson’s. Brad worked for Ben as a deputy before joining the Coeur d’Alene Police Department a year ago.
In parting
Ben doesn’t regret his decision to retire. He’s ready. He wants to fish and play with the grandkids. Besides, he said, it’s time for fresh blood.
He doesn’t plan to endorse anyone. But he is preparing a guest column for the Coeur d’Alene Press in which he will analyze each candidate.
“A lot of things they say they’re going to do are outside of the sheriff’s authority,” he said. “You have to stay in your own lane. That’s part of the job.”
Ben admits he missed his April 1 deadline for the column. But, hey, he’s a lawman, not a journalist. And a darn good one at that.
