A former River Falls police officer and Pierce County district attorney remembered for his compassion, commitment to community service and hard work ethic has died at age 44.

According to his obituary, published by Torkelson Funeral Home of Tomah, Sean Edward Froelich died on Dec. 31, 2023 at his home in Burnsville, Minn. after battling mental illness.

Froelich, a 1998 Tomah High School graduate, served as Pierce County’s district attorney from 2012-2020. He earned a degree in criminal justice from UW-River Falls in 2002 and joined the River Falls Police Department as a reserve officer while in college.

Bill Rasmussen, who served with the River Falls Police Department for decades, said Froelich expressed an interest in police work while in college. Rasmussen commanded the 21-officer reserve unit at the time and called it a “no-brainer” to hire Froelich.

“He was intelligent, very professional and had an interest in law enforcement,” Rasmussen said.

After attending “recruit school,” RFPD hired Froelich as a full-time officer in August 2003. Rasmussen, who came to River Falls in 1968, was the first officer to wear Badge 13. When he retired the first time, Froelich took over the badge number, a special memory for Rasmussen.

Retired RFPD Sgt. Jon Aubart (and current Pierce County Board chair) was one of Froelich’s supervisors for a time. He remembers Froelich as compassionate and victim centered.

“He always had empathy and compassion for victims, whether it was at the PD or the DA’s office,” Aubart said. “He genuinely cared about people, to a fault sometimes. He was passionate about that. Everything was black and white and he was very detailed. If the law said this, that was what it was. He would always want to do the right thing. He was a very caring, passionate person and he really enjoyed helping people the best that he could.”

Froelich served RFPD until July 2006, when an interest in law eventually led him to pursue a Juris Doctor from William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul, which he completed in 2010. While working for a nonprofit legal organization, Pierce County area law enforcement officers and members of the public encouraged him to challenge DA John O’Boyle for the seat he’d held for 25 years. He defeated O’Boyle handily in the August 2012 primary and was sworn in as DA at the age of 33.

“Sean was exceedingly thorough,” Rasmussen said. “He wanted to know everything about a case so that he made the right decisions. That takes a lot of time and effort. When you get a caseload like that, it just drained him. He wanted to do the best job possible for his constituents in the county. That was the way he was, it engrained in him. He was a very caring man.”

Froelich served as DA in Pierce for almost two terms before current DA Halle Hatch defeated him in the August 2020 primary.

Former Assistant District Attorney Rory O’Sullivan worked with Froelich from March 2013 to June 2017. He remembers him as a great person to work with and for.

“He was a compassionate and hardworking attorney who understood the importance of and believed in the rectitude of the work he was doing,” O’Sullivan recalled. “He was a deeply principled man and he lived and worked by those principles. He was a credit to the Pierce County District Attorney’s office and the people of Pierce County were lucky to have him as their district attorney while he held that office.”

After leaving Pierce County, Froelich worked as an assistant district attorney in Eau Claire County before continuing his career as a senior attorney for the Minnesota Department of Human Services.

Aubart called Froelich’s passing tragic and hopes people remember not his death, but his kindness and service.

“He should be remembered as hard-working; he never quit working,” Aubart said. “He worked his cases every weekend and night. He was so dedicated and never took time for himself, which in the end probably wasn’t a good thing. That was part of that whole compassion to others and he was going to see things through.”

Froelich’s obituary describes him as a man of deep faith who was dedicated to serving others. While living in River Falls, he attended Ezekiel Lutheran Church where he at one time held the council president role. He was an outdoor enthusiast who enjoyed spending time on the water or at the beach and gardening. He also enjoyed canoeing, kayaking and traveling.

Froelich is survived by his parents, John and Judy Froelich, two brothers, one sister, four nephews, one niece and his former wife, Heather Moyer.

Funeral services will be held and livestreamed at 2 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 11 at Torkelson Funeral Home in Tomah. Visitation begins at 11 a.m. until the time of the service. Burial will follow in Oak Grove Cemetery in Tomah.

Online condolences can be left at www.torkelsonfuneralhome.com The family would like memorials directed to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI).