Pine County Deputy Benjamin Neel Dies Following Stroke Suffered In Brain Surgery

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – A community in central Minnesota is mourning the death of a sheriff's deputy.

Benjamin Neel, a K-9 deputy with Pine County and a father of four, died Wednesday in hospice care following a stroke suffered last month as a complication of brain surgery. He was 37.

"He was at peace," his wife, Jen, wrote on a family Facebook page. "He is loved and we will be together again soon…I love you till my last breath, my soulmate, my heart, my guardian angel."

On Thursday, a motorcade brought Neel's body from the Twin Cities to Pine County. His colleagues at the sheriff's office described him as a "great deputy and man."

"To say our office is sad is an understatement," a post Thursday on the agency's Facebook page read.

Neel's health problems surfaced in October, when he collapsed during a hunting trip in South Dakota, his family says. Doctors later found two tumors in his brain.

One tumor was removed in early December, but Neel suffered a massive brain stem stroke due to complications in surgery. He was unable to recover.

Neel was a lifelong resident of Pine County. He began serving with the sheriff's office in 2003. In 2016, he became a K-9 deputy, with Chewy as his partner. His family says the two were "inseparable."

Neel is survived by his wife and their four children: William, Owen, Gabriel and Hunter. A GoFundMe has been set up to help them cover medical expenses.

There is also a fund set up at Frandsen Bank and Trust in Pine City. Donations can be made to:

Frandsen Bank and Trust
Neel Family Fund
560 3rd Ave SE
Pine City, MN 55063