August 28, 2026 – Village of Kewaskum, Wi — For 27 years, Patty Blackstone has been a familiar face at the Kewaskum Police Department. As the administrative assistant to the Chief she has answered phones, greeted residents, helped officers, handled paperwork, answered questions and quietly carried decades of institutional knowledge through a department that has changed considerably since she first walked through the doors in October 1999.
On August 28, 2026, Blackstone will retire from the Kewaskum Police Department, closing a 27-year chapter that began with a newspaper classified ad, a typing test and an interview with then-Chief Dick Knoebel.
For current Police Chief Tom Bishop, her retirement marks the departure of much more than an administrative assistant.
“She is the most valuable asset to this department,” Bishop said. “At least for me, she was.”
Blackstone was already working at the department when Bishop began his career in Kewaskum as a patrol officer. When he eventually became chief, succeeding Knoebel, he was a young chief stepping into a demanding position.
“I really needed a lot of help, and Patty had all of the institutional knowledge,” Bishop said. “Without her, I couldn’t have done my job successfully, and it’s still true today.”
That knowledge came from nearly three decades of watching the department, its officers and the community evolve.
“She will be very much missed, especially by me, but by everybody here,” Bishop said. “The whole community will miss her as well.”
Bishop said Blackstone’s importance went well beyond what appeared on a job description.
“She is the face of the department,” he said. “If you call, or come in, you’re gonna see or talk to Patty first.”
That first interaction matters, particularly in a police department where residents may be calling under stressful circumstances.
“She’s the first point of contact for everybody,” Bishop said. “So it’s vitally important and she, you know, knocked that out of the park.”
Blackstone also became a steadying presence for the department’s officers, including young officers learning the profession.
There were plenty of personalities that came through the doors over the years, Bishop said, and Blackstone had a way of working with all of them.
Her longevity, was also an anomoly.
“It’s extremely rare,” Bishop said of someone remaining in the same position for so many years. “There’s not a ton of dedication to an employer anymore. And so that’s a big loss for us.”
Blackstone never set out to have a career in law enforcement. She saw an advertisement for the position in the newspaper and decided to apply.
At the time, she lived in West Bend and had no law enforcement experience. What she did have was confidential human resources experience and a familiarity with computers.
A graduate of St. Joan Antida High School in Milwaukee in 1982, Blackstone moved to West Bend, and applied her experience in confidential human resources to a job that would become a career.
Four candidates applied for the position of police clerk. Blackstone’s interview process was decidedly more old-school than today’s hiring process.
Janet Knaps administered Blackstone’s typing test.
“I don’t remember, but I guess I did okay,” Blackstone said.
Knoebel remembers the process well enough. “She was the best out of all of them,” he said. “She was familiar with computers, that was a big thing.”
Blackstone’s comfort with technology, combined with her thoroughness and ability to work with people, made her stand out.
“She was thorough. She got everything done,” Knoebel said. “She was good to the people. Dependible and just a great, great assistant.”
Blackstone initially held the title of police clerk before it was changed to administrative assistant.
When she started, her hours were generally 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. There was even a Saturday shift once a month because court was held on Saturday mornings.
Kathy Buth, clerk of Mid-Moraine Municipal Court, said Blackstone was extremely dedicated and you could tell she loved her job. “To find employees that stay that long in any job is rare. From our work experience with her, she was always on top of things. You could call her and say, we need an answer for this and she had it.
“You can always replace a position, but you can’t replace the personality or the knowledge in what they’ve done. She’s just an amazing person, and we’re gonna miss her.”
In a small community, Blackstone handled the day-to-day administrative work that keeps a police department moving.
She said the calls to the police department, could be wonderfully ordinary.
“The dog next door is barking,” Blackstone recalled.
Someone hadn’t cut their grass in two weeks.
Someone wanted to know where the garbage collectors were.
And then there was the person who accidentally called 911.
“Small town,” Blackstone said. “It was nice.”
“I’ve always been grateful for being given the opportunity to work here.”
She also had nothing but good things to say about the two chiefs she worked most closely with.
“Dick was a wonderful boss. We got along very well,” she said. “Tom has been a wonderful boss, same.”
Aaron Laatsch, owner of the local Piggly Wiggly said Blackstone was a wonderful addition to the community. “Patty has always been very professional, welcoming, and when you need her, she is here. You know what you’re getting with Patty. She just handles something, takes care of it, and it’s done.
Laatsch said, what made Blackstone special was she could relate to anyone. “I knew her as a resident. I knew her as a worker here in town, and I knew her through the police and fire commission, and all three aspects, she handled exactly the same, she made small talk, but at the same time, she knew how to get the job done, and just very professional. To have someone reliable, and knowing what’s got to be accomplished, and someone that the chief and the lieutenant can trust to carry out what needs to happen is very key, especially for a small Village.”
On a side note:
-Blackstone finished her career with five stripes, representing 25 years of service. Her first stripe came under Chief Knoebel.
-Blackstone’s favorite memory when she gave a young girl a coloring book and one of the department’s sticker badges.
The gesture apparently made an impression.
“That little girl wrote me a letter,” Blackstone said. “Just saying thank you for the coloring book and the sticker badge, which was always a big deal.”
Blackstone kept the letter for quite some time. “I don’t know if I still have it anymore, but yeah, that was one of the sweetest things I got.”
Blackstone’s next chapter begins Sept. 1, when she will return to a project that has occupied her outside the department for years: building a pirate ship for Halloween. What started as a couple spider decorations in 2016 has grown to feature a pirate ship that covers the expanse of the driveway at her home. It has been rebuilt several times, and Blackstone and her husband have accumulated enough Halloween decorations to require serious storage space.
