Family still wants highway made safer

Published 12:00 am Saturday, July 19, 2003

ROSE CREEK -- It's a no-win situation.

Not only did the Governor of Minnesota tell the grieving parent it wasn't the state's responsibility, the state bureaucrats rebuffed his request for assistance and misspelled his name in their letter of rejection.

Not that Bob Rosel minded the slight nor his wife, Madonna, but it was Dustin's name, too.

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That Dustin Rosel.

County 4 becomes real dead man's curve

It was four years ago, the 20-year-old man was killed in a motor vehicle accident July 17, 2000, on a Mower County highway curve west of Rose Creek.

Last Thursday night, family and friends gathered at Rose Creek City Park for the third annual Dustin Rosel Memorial Softball Night.

There's a memorial to the young man in the city park: a garden created by his summer employer, Randy Berg and the Berg Nursery and Landscaping crew.

There's also a sign in the outfield of the softball park and put there by Dave's Plumbing and Heating softball players. It reads "In memory of Dustin" and the number on the player's jersey. Number 17 has been retired by the team and the jersey given to the young man's father.

The garden and the sign were added to Rose Creek City Park that same summer after the tragedy.

Jesse, his older brother was there. So was Melissa, his younger sister. His parents and Abbey Stroup, his girlfriend, as well as other friends from Southland High School and the Rose Creek community.

Dick and Evon Heimer were there, too. Maybe they were the only ones, who really knew how the parents, siblings and girlfriend felt. The Heimers lost a son, Curt, to a tragic auto accident, too.

Number 17 holds special significance

Bob Rosel has run home to get his son's jersey. He will wear the green-colored shirt in honor of his son that summer's night.

According to Madonna Rosel, the number holds special significance.

"He was born on the 17th of February and that's the day he died," she said. "It was also the number he wore when he played sports."

Jesse Rosel, 26, graduated from Southland High School in 1995.

"We got along pretty good," said the older brother. "He was three years younger than me, so we weren't on the same teams in high school, but we played on the Legion baseball team together."

Like his father and others, Jesse believes "Something should be done" to the Highway 4 curve where his brother died.

Melissa Rosel, 22, graduated a year after Dustin in 1999.

Amidst softball, laughter, kids squeals, car engines and music, the sister said the family appreciates the outfield sign as well as the garden created in the memory of her brother. "It's a good way to remember him," she said.

Her brother had celebrated his 20th birthday February 17, 2000. At the time of his death, Melissa was 18.

A speech communications major in college, the young woman said her brother's untimely death causes her to wish "people would develop a greater appreciation of life."

Abbey Stroup graduated from Southland in 1998 with Dustin.

"We've been friends since the eight grade," she said.

Now living in Minneapolis, she took the day off from her job to come home to Rose Creek for the memorial activities.

She grew up in Rose Creek close to the entire Rosel family.

She described her boyfriend as "very funny" and a "great entertainer."

"He was one of the class clowns and loved attention," she said.

The Rose Creek City Park is filled with mostly younger people. Madonna Rosel and others have brought grilled sweet corn and other picnic favorites for all to enjoy.

"I feel better about it now," she said of the passing of time since the fatal accident three summers ago. "You learn to live your life and adjust."

Another visitor to the Rose Creek City Park that night is Dick Heimer, father of another son killed in another accident on a county road before his time. He has come to the park with his wife, Evon.

The Heimer and Rosel families knew each other through their sons' friendship in life and now know each other better because of the grief they share.

"It's good to see family and friends around for something like this," Dick Heimer said.

Al Mullenbach, married and the father of two children, remembers Dustin Rosel when he was a young boy running the streets in Rose Creek.

He watched him play sports for the Southland Rebels and was his teammate on Dave Whalen's softball team.

He was also a member of the Rose Creek Volunteer Fire Department first responder squad that was the first at the scene of the accident.

On the third anniversary, Mullenbach and his teammates invite Bob Rosel to take a swing at the plate for their team. He does and when he lofts a long fly ball to center, it appears headed straight for the memorial sign to his son.

Mullenbach said he and others in the community "try to be there for the family."

Dad: Make curve safer for everyone

Bob Rosel only wants to "make the curve safer for somebody else."

"It won't bring Dustin back, but, maybe, we can help somebody else avoid something like this," he said.

The last official word the father received came in the March 26 letter from the Minnesota Department of Transportation.

That was after a face-to-face encounter with Gov. Tim Pawlenty earlier this year.

The letter came in response to the father's button-holing of Pawlenty about making the Mower County highway curve and others like it safer.

Julie Skallman, a state aid engineer for the MnDOT, wrote "Mr. Bob Rosell" that County Road 4 is designated as a state aid route and that means that the county may use a portion of its state aid highway funds for maintenance and construction of that route."

"It is up to the County Board to decide what projects will be done using those funds and when they will construct them," wrote the engineer. "The state role is only to verify that the work that they propose to do meets the minimum standards and to release the funds for eligible construction items.

"I encourage you to direct your concerns to your County Board and your County Highway Engineer."

Rosel family just keeps hearing 'no'

The father has been to the County Board and visited with the County Highway Engineer. At his own expense, he has retained a highway engineer to examine the intersection. The engineer concluded it is unsafe by modern highway standards.

He has petitioned county officials and badgered the governor. He has told his story to the media over and over.

The father has agreed to compromise, When he was told there was no money to do what he recommended, he suggested signage.

"Every time I have brought it up, they have said 'No,'" he said.

The governor, through the MDOT engineer, told the Rose Creek man the safety of motorists traveling the Mower County Road 4 and Highway 52 curve is not a state responsibility.

Now, the Mower County Board of Commissioners say the county does not have the money to reconfigure the intersection.

Still, he doesn't give up.

"Even signs would help," the father said. "If they can't do anything else, why not signs. What would that cost?"

Bob Rosel makes no apology for his obsession.

"Every day I think about it," he said. "This morning (July 17) was a lot harder than most, because of the anniversary. Madonna and I drove to the accident site to see it again. I know people think I'm crazy, but this is not about a lawsuit or anything. It's not about bringing Dustin back to life. It's just about making a curve on a country road a little safer for everyone.

"A sign warning people wouldn't bring back our son, but it would bring a little sense of relief."

Lee Bonorden can be contacted at 434-2232 or by e-mail at :mailto:lee.bonorden@austindailyherald.com