‘Gave his life helping someone’: Arkansas police officer died saving fiancée hours after proposing

Multimedia Journalist

An Arkansas police officer proposed to his girlfriend hours before he died while trying to save her from drowning in Missouri’s Elk River, according to the woman’s mother.

Officer Fred Marsh, 24, died July 18 while canoeing with his fiancée and friends. Rogers police said Tuesday that Marsh died while trying to save a person who was drowning.

Sheryl Padgett said that person was her daughter, who had become engaged to Marsh earlier that morning.

“They had been together for three beautiful years, and they had a very beautiful, loving relationship,” Padgett said. “Even though legally he was not my son-in-law, he will forever be my son.”

Padgett said the couple was on the river with another Rogers police officer and that officer’s wife. The group had spent much of the day on the water before stopping as temperatures climbed.

Padgett said her daughter entered the water and began struggling against the current while trying to return to a kayak. The other officer went to help her, and Marsh joined the rescue effort when he saw his fiancée was in distress.

Padgett said her daughter was eventually pushed toward a canoe, but Marsh became caught in the current and began calling for help. The group and other people on the river tried to reach him, but he went underwater and did not resurface.

“He saw the love of his life in distress, and he was going to help his friend and do what a good human would do,” Padgett said. “He gave his life helping someone else.”

Marsh had proposed to Padgett’s daughter earlier that day as the couple prepared to build a life together in Northwest Arkansas.

Marsh was in his first year with the Rogers Police Department. He graduated from the Arkansas Law Enforcement Training Academy on April 9 and had recently begun serving as an officer.

Padgett described Marsh as a “gentle giant” who was loving, hardworking and guided by his Christian faith. She said he never hesitated when someone needed help.

“There’s nothing he wouldn’t do for anyone,” Padgett said. “You didn’t have to tell him. You didn’t have to beg him. He just was willing and would jump in there and do whatever it took to help someone.”

Padgett said she began calling Marsh her son soon after he entered the family. She had lost her only son in a fatal accident four years earlier and said Marsh helped fill part of the void that loss left behind.

“We instantly made a connection and a bond,” she said. “I called him son, and he called me mama.”

A motorcade escorted Marsh’s body through Northwest Arkansas on Monday as people gathered along the route to honor him. Padgett said the response from law enforcement and the Rogers community showed the family how many lives Marsh had touched.

“They made it very clear that Fred was not just their family, but so was my daughter, my family and, even more importantly, Fred’s family,” Padgett said.

Funeral arrangements are being handled by Marsh’s family. Padgett said the family expects officers, former classmates, childhood friends and others from across the state to attend.

She encouraged people who want to honor Marsh to follow the example he set by treating others with compassion.

“Let’s do something in Fred’s honor,” Padgett said. “Be kind to your fellow man. When Fred loved, he loved with everything he had, and he loved well.”