Trailblazing La Salle County Sheriff’s deputy retires after 23 years

She very nearly became a special education teacher. But during an internship with special-needs children, Felecia Rasmussen grew very close to a boy with Down’s syndrome – until the the boy exploded with fisticuffs.

“We seemed to really hit it off,” Rasmussen said, “but we had an incident where he decided to beat the living tar out of me.”

During her recovery, Rasmussen mulled over how to redirect her deep-seated desire to help others. Though no one in her family had any background in law enforcement, Rasmussen decided to become a police officer.

“I just decided I wanted to be out there,” recalled Rasmussen, an Ottawa resident who retired recently from 23 years at the La Salle County Sheriff’s Office. “I wanted to be in the community and help people and do things for people.”

She did all that and more during a distinguished career that included serving as a school resource officer to multiple districts. Rasmussen also worked tirelessly for the community, always spearheading toy drives so children would have presents from Santa or to something to divert them at the scene of crash or domestic.

“She is the kindest woman with the biggest heart,” said Jackie Underhill, assistant superintendent of the La Salle County Jail and a longtime friend. “She’s always willing to do anything to help out. She always has a smile.”

That smile was a bit slow returning after the beating, at which point the Napa Valley native applied for a job at the Sacramento County (California) Sheriff’s Office. Training at the police academy was “brutal,” but she enjoyed her three years patrolling wine country. She might have stayed one were it not for an evening spent playing around on a matchmaking website.

“It started as a joke,” Rasmussen said. “My girlfriend and I were goofing around on a singles site.”

Her joking submission nonetheless caught the eye of a Minnesota native named Jay Rasmussen. Jay and Felecia connected, nervously met at a country and western bar in California “and we’ve been together ever since.”

After Jay’s discharge from the military, he accepted a job at Pilkington and moved his young family to Ottawa. Felecia, still with an itch for law enforcement, worked as a loss-prevention officer at Walmart while interviewing for police jobs.

She made a particularly strong impression on former La Salle County Sheriff Tom Templeton. Rasmussen, he recalled, had done her homework on local police agencies and decided La Salle County would be a good fit. Templeton shared that view.

“It just hit me right that this was a good person for the job,” Templeton said.

Templeton was partial to starting new hires in corrections, which meant Rasmussen’s first assignment was in La Salle County Jail. She distinguished herself and Templeton soon agreed to put her on patrol.

That took some getting used to. California had recruited women into law enforcement and civilians were accustomed to women in uniform – “They’d punch us the same as if we were men” – but the Midwest was slower in establishing parity. She’d rush to scenes and be stunned when the callers asked why the sheriff hadn’t dispatched a man.

“‘I sent for the boys,’” Rassmussen was told more than once. “That was a very rude awakening.”

It didn’t help that Rasmussen was the only woman driving a sheriff’s cruiser. She wasn’t the county’s first female patrol officer – that was Diane Newell, who had retired just as Rasmussen came on – and there were, of course, female corrections officers. On patrol, however, she was it.

In spite of the stresses and double-standards, Rasmussen was a natural on patrol.

“I love being out there,” she said. “I love being able to move. I love having the freedom to go where I need to go, do what I need to do as opposed to being inside.”

One of her more notable commendations was conferred in summer 2020. Mere yards in front of her cruiser, a crash occurred in rural Streator. Even though COVID-19 was raging, Rasmussen climbed into the totaled car to comfort the crash victim and keep her alert until an extrication team could arrive.

“I certainly wasn’t surprised Felecia responded the way she did,” Templeton said. “She’s always been extremely caring and always involved in any situation where she could help somebody. I was very pleased with her response but, like I said, not surprised.”

Rasmussen never missed an opportunity to help the less fortunate. She spearheaded the department’s Christmas toy drives and set aside a stash of teddy bears and Matchbox cars as “crisis toys” to placate children at traumatic scenes.

“We started getting stuffed animals, toys and things that can comfort them,” Rasmussen said. “If I’ve got a child who’s been in accident or a domestic situation and they’re freaking out, I give them something that will calm them down and de-escalate the situation.”

Her early experience with special needs kids produced a gifted school resource officer. Rasmussen spent 11 years rotating across rural La Salle County schools including Milton Pope, Rutland, Serena, Wallace, Earlville, Harding, Dimmick and Grand Ridge.

If a part-time role were available at the sheriff’s office, she would readily stay on as a school resource officer. But the SAFE-T Act ushered in a slew of mostly-unwelcome changes to law enforcement and Rasmussen decided it was time to call it a career.

“Obviously we were sad, but happy for her, too,” Underhill said. “Her face will be missed around here and throughout the community.”