Community Plays Santa for Iraq Veteran's Family

Family grateful for gifts
WISC News
Terri Pederson Daily Citizen
January 7, 2016

Tom was deployed in Iraq in the infantry unit, Ramona said. The two met in Germany and Ramona moved back to Beaver Dam with Tom.

A local family is grateful for the gifts they received from the Beaver Dam Police Department‘s Santa run Christmas Eve, as well as the feeling of support.

“It was a very big surprise,” Ramona Werner said.

On Dec. 24, Werner said she heard the fire truck and police car coming down the road and wondered where they were going when they stopped in front of her house.

Santa Claus coming out of the truck made Werner realize that it wasn’t a normal stop.

The police department, with assistance from Beaver Dam Fire Department and a company in Randolph, raised $700 to provide presents and gift cards for the family.

It was a tradition the police department resurrected after it started Beaver Dam Police Charities — an outreach to address community needs.

Werner said her husband Tom has post traumatic stress disorder, as well as dealing with the loss of a son. The couple has two other boys, ages 4 and 9.

“He also just lost his job in October,” Werner said. “We’ve been struggling to just stay above water.”
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