TOMAHAWK – In speaking with those who knew Lawrence “Larry” Bromberek best, two common themes emerged.
First was his height.
Standing at 6’4”, Larry was the tallest officer in the history of the Tomahawk Police Department. Couple his stature with his job, and Larry could come off as intimidating to those who didn’t know him. But for many, after meeting Larry, this sentiment quickly faded, and soon, something else came to the forefront – the second common theme among Larry’s family, friends and colleagues: who he was as a person.
“Kind.”
“Gentle.”
“Loyal.”
“Down-to-Earth.”
“Storyteller.”
On Sept. 25, 2024, Larry passed away unexpectedly at the age of 73. But the longtime Tomahawk cop left behind a legacy as towering as the man himself.
From Chicago to Tomahawk
Larry was born in Chicago, Ill., on Dec. 30, 1950, to Phillip and Irene Bromberek. Larry’s father passed away from brain cancer at age 43, when Larry was just 10 years old. His father’s passing had a profound impact on Larry.
Larry met Suzanne "Sue" Haeflinger in 1967, while they were students at John F. Kennedy High School in Chicago. The two would go on to get married, but they weren’t a couple right off the bat; although they went on a double-date for prom, they each went with someone else.
After graduating from high school in 1969, Larry went into the military. Sue explained that Larry knew he’d be drafted, so he decided to enlist in the U.S. Army so he could choose which field he wanted to go into. Larry’s decision to enlist was three-fold: not only could he pick his area of enlistment, but since his mother was a widow, only one member of the family would have to enter the draft or enlist, so Larry joined the Army in an effort to protect his younger brother, Wayne, from being drafted. Larry also saw his service as a tribute to his father, who had served in the Aleutian Islands in World War II.
Larry served in Vietnam as a military police officer with the 101st Airborne Division. While Larry was overseas, he and Sue would write to each other, and Sue would send him care packages.
“At that point in time, I was like his little sister versus an actual girlfriend,” Sue said.
After Larry was honorably discharged in 1972, he returned home to Chicago, and he and Sue began dating.
In May 1973, Larry and Sue were married. After having served as an MP in the Army, Larry decided that he wanted to become a police officer. Sue was supportive of Larry’s career choice, but under one condition: she was concerned about his safety, so they would have to live somewhere other than Chicago.
Larry loved to fish and hunt, so he suggested Wisconsin as a potential landing spot. At the time, he had an aunt and uncle that lived near Rhinelander on Birch Lake, so he moved in with them and began job hunting.
Larry briefly worked at the St. Regis paper mill in Rhinelander before being hired as a patrol officer with the Tomahawk Police Department in June 1973, when he was 22 years old. The City of Tomahawk Fire and Police Commission chose Larry from a pool of 17 applicants.
This would mark the start of Larry’s 30-year career as a police officer in Tomahawk.
The life of a cop – and a cop’s family
For much of his career, Larry worked the midnight shift. The family made it work: Larry was able to see Sue and their daughters, Angie and Tracy, while they had breakfast and again in the evening, at dinnertime. Larry and Sue later divorced, but their relationship remained cordial.
So what was it like being the wife of a small town cop?
“Living in a fishbowl,” Sue laughed. “Everybody would watch what you would do. With being brought up in Chicago, we both had thick skin. So if somebody (said), ‘I don't like cops and I don't like their families,’ I would say, ‘Okay, fine.’ You know, to each his own.”
Tracy noted that her dad’s profession didn’t affect her too much, but there were some aspects of being a police officer’s daughter that made her childhood different than most. Tracy and Angie didn’t have many sleepovers with friends, and when they did, they were a little older, and Larry and Sue had to know the other kids’ parents well – steps, Tracy said, that were taken out of caution.
“I was proud of him,” Tracy said. “I didn't let people in the community get me down. Sometimes people would be like, ‘Oh, you're a cop’s, kid.’ And it's like, ‘I get punished, too. I make mistakes, too.’”
Whenever he could, Larry would attend family functions and his daughters’ high school sports events. But the job didn’t come without sacrifices – Larry missed numerous holidays and birthdays over the years. But the family would adjust their schedules to ensure they could all be together.
At the end of the day, Larry was a family man.
“He said, ‘Family is the backbone,’” Tracy recalled.
Larry was proud of his daughters’ accomplishments, including Angie majoring in social work and minoring in criminal justice at UW-Whitewater.
“He gave words of encouragement pursuing my licensure for State of Wisconsin,” Angie said. “I always enjoyed news articles he sent on updates to policies offering more resources in mental health.”
On several occasions, when Tracy would come to Tomahawk to visit, she would pull up a slideshow of family photos on the big screen TV at Larry’s house. Larry, sitting in his chair, soaked up every image.
“People would even say, ‘I've never seen your dad smile so big.’ And I'm like, ‘He loves his family,’” Tracy said.
On the job
Larry wore a few hats as a cop in Tomahawk. He was a State-certified firearms instructor, and in 1997, he served as Interim Police Chief after two longtime members of the force – Chief Jack DuPlayee and Captain Ed Ziert – retired, and a third officer was sidelined following surgery.
Sue said Larry didn’t want to become the full-time Chief because there was one part of his job as a patrol officer that he didn’t want to leave behind.
“He enjoyed working the streets and working with the people,” Sue said. “He enjoyed the people.”
After he went back to his normal job, Larry was recognized for stepping up to help the department, receiving a Letter of Commendation from then-Chief Mike Smitley for his service as Interim Chief.
“You exercised outstanding leadership skills by motivating the rest of the organization to help keep the organization operational without the use of negative discipline,” Smitley wrote. “You donated many hours of personal service to the organization without compensation, and your professional demeanor and positive attitude improved our professional image in the eyes of the elected officials and the public we serve.”
Smitley noted that Larry was an asset to him when he first took over as Chief, helping him get acquiesced to the department’s operations. He added that Larry also continued to perform administrative duties that were above those expected of his rank.
“I sincerely thank you for your selfless dedication, and I appreciate your efforts and input,” Smitley said.
This wasn’t the only time Larry was honored for his efforts. In April 2000, Sergeant Ronald Kammer penned a Letter of Recognition after Larry helped refurbish the department’s shooting range.
Kammer said Larry sought out financial resources to minimize the impact on the department’s already tight budget.
“Your efforts will greatly benefit the officers and the department by enabling firearms training more frequently due to easier accessibility to our own shooting range,” Kammer wrote. “Training, particularly with firearms, is a key issue in law enforcement, and your efforts in this area will greatly impact our professional image to the public.”
Larry Timm joined the Tomahawk Police Department in 1974, and he and Larry occasionally patrolled together.
On the job, Larry was on point.
“He was dressed to a T,” Timm said. “He was very professional.”
But off the clock, Larry would joke around, Timm said, noting that although Larry was a big guy and was serious at work, he was also a gentle person.
“He was just all-around good,” Timm said.
Larry had a sense of humor that endeared him not only to his family and friends, but to those he encountered on the job. Sue recalled an instance where, after he’d retired, Larry was working as a transport driver with the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, transporting inmates to jails around the state.
“I thought you retired,” one inmate said to Larry.
“And I thought you were going to be good!” Larry quipped.
As he got toward the end of his time as a police officer, Larry was humorously self-aware regarding the length of his tenure. Sue said early on in his career, he’d worked with a person, and over the years, he’d also come into contact with the person’s son and grandson.
“He said, ‘That’s when I’m getting old, when I’m going down to the third generation of people,’” Sue recalled.
Law enforcement’s support for Larry and his family remained long after his retirement. In his later years, Larry spent time chatting in Facebook groups for police officers. After his passing, word spread quickly – and his family felt the love. Messages from not only family and friends, but those who had met him online, poured in.
“The badge is still there for us,” Tracy said. “Those guys and those women, they’re still there for us.”
An outdoorsman and a musician
One of the driving factors in Larry and Sue’s move to the Northwoods was Larry’s love for the outdoors. As the years went by, Larry’s passion for hunting, fishing and camping grew – which is evidenced by the amount of equipment he’d collected.
“We could open up our own Walmart store,” Sue joked.
But Larry took pride in his gear, she said, noting that he maintained all of his equipment and enjoyed sharing his knowledge with others. In fact, Larry volunteered with the Lincoln County Sportsman Club, taking part in the youth turkey hunt with local kids. He also helped out at Cops and Bobbers fishing events.
Larry got to live out his hunting dream. Tracy’s husband, Joel, is originally from South Dakota, and Larry traveled out there to meet Joel’s family and go pheasant hunting with his dog. The tradition was passed down to his grandkids – all of whom affectionately called him “JaJa” – and Larry treasured those hunting trips.
Tracy reflected on times she spent with her dad fishing. It was much more than just fishing, she noted – Larry would tell stories, and the two would talk about life.
“I'm glad I paid attention,” Tracy said. “I'm glad I was a sponge. I'm glad I remember those things, because I have my own family now.”
Not only was Larry a skilled outdoorsman, but he was also a musician. Larry could play the guitar and the accordion, and he loved to sing, especially around campfires with loved ones.
“He had a voice like Elvis,” Tracy said.
Larry also got his daughters involved. While he sang and played guitar, Tracy and Angie would be on spoons, flute or harmonica duties.
Larry dabbled in songwriting as well, penning songs about fishing and other topics. He even helped Tracy write a rap song about the respiratory system for a school science project.
Roy Lahti started with the Tomahawk Police Department shortly after Larry did, and the two became good friends. Although Lahti eventually left the department for another career, his close bond with Larry remained through the years. Larry was the Best Man in Lahti’s wedding, and the two built houses in the same year. Larry mixed the mortar for both basements in a mud box by hand and carried all the cement blocks, Lahti said.
Some of Lahti’s fondest memories with Larry took place at their ice shack on Lake Alice.
“One day ice fishing, Larry wanted to be a taxidermist,” Lahti recalled. “His first fish he filled with Plaster of Paris. It was a 30-pound fish when done. He brought the fish out to the ice shack and hung it on the wall. A flag goes up, Larry runs out, the door slams, 30-pound fish falls, hits me on the head. We laughed for an hour.”
Lahti reflected on one of his last interactions with Larry. Lahti drove Larry to a doctor appointment in Eau Claire, allowing the longtime pals to reminisce.
“I just think the Good Lord put us together, and we got to catch up on old times,” Lahti said.
Larry the neighbor
Tom Tollefson started with the Tomahawk Police Department about three months before Larry’s retirement. The two first met on the shooting range for Tollefson’s firearms qualification. Tollefson noted that Larry’s stature made him an intimidating figure at first, but the two quickly hit it off, talking about hunting and fishing.
Although Larry and Tollefson’s time together on the force was short, they got to know each other another way: by being neighbors.
“(Larry and Sue) were great neighbors,” Tollefson said. “(They) helped me out with stuff, and I helped him, especially in the later years, with some of his chores and stuff like that.”
A fond memory of living near Larry was hearing his booming voice, Tollefson and his wife, Kelley, recalled.
“You knew when Larry was outside, because you could hear him,” Kelley said.
But his voice certainly wasn’t his chief quality as a neighbor.
“(Larry was) a big, giant teddy bear,” Kelley said.
“He was always the first to say hi,” Tom said. “He was always somebody you enjoyed being around. He wanted to know what was going on and be part of your life. That was very much who he was.”
Leaving behind – and carrying on – a legacy
Tomahawk Police Sergeant Matt Gorell met Larry in 2008. Gorell had just started working in law enforcement – at the time, he was with the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office – and Larry became a mentor to him.
“Larry was a wealth of knowledge,” Gorell said. “He had forgotten more at that point than I could have ever produced myself. So I would go to him and just talk to him about different things I was going through, experiencing at work.”
The guidance Larry shared applied both to Gorell’s career and his personal life. One piece of advice from Larry that Gorell has carried with him: “Let it go, and it will grow.”
“That was something, you know, as a young police officer, that was important for me to hear, because sometimes, when you're entering into a field, especially like criminal justice or law enforcement, you don't fully comprehend or grasp everything that's going on right away,” Gorell said. “It takes time for you to grow into that understanding and develop a full comprehension of what's actually happening and some of the troubles that are actually going on in your community. And Larry had already developed all that knowledge, and he knew about that, and that's why it was so good for me to hear some of those things. Like, you don't have to stop every speeding car, and you don't have to write everybody a ticket.”
Larry had no problem taking action, but he was also merciful in his capacity as a police officer, Gorell noted.
“He did not sweat the small stuff,” he said.
Larry’s loyalty was a defining characteristic of his career. He had opportunities to work elsewhere, but he chose to stay in Tomahawk, Gorell noted. But this quality carried over into Larry’s personal life, as well – and set an example Gorell said he hopes to live by.
“I just want him to be proud of that,” Gorell said. “I want to carry on some of those things, some of those qualities that he had. Being faithful, being honest and kind to other people.”
Community memorial celebration
The Tomahawk community will have the opportunity to commemorate Larry at a memorial celebration tomorrow evening.
The event, hosted by Larry’s family, will be held at Veterans Memorial Park, 112 E. River St., Tomahawk, on Thursday, June 12, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. The public is invited to bring lawn chairs, food, coolers and dancing shoes and join Larry’s family and friends for an evening of music and memories as Larry’s life of service is celebrated.
DAM Country will be playing classic country songs, including a few of Larry’s favorites. Brenda with Blitz Street will be on-site with food, and Michelle and Andy with Big Bear will be scooping ice cream.
For a storyteller like Larry, a celebration where loved ones can share memories feels like a fitting tribute.
“He loved his community and was dedicated to keeping it safe,” Angie said. “He made lasting impressions on people with a story or two.”
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