accident in January of 1999 which led
to an investigator job with the county
prosecutor, Tim Cain. On December
11, 1999 Fitch joined the Shipshewana
Police Department under town marshal, Gary Smith. Fitch then became
Shipshewana’s Town Marshal in March
of 2002 after Smith stepped down
from the post. Fitch has served as a
law enforcement officer for close to 18
years and has served as Shipshewana’s
Town Marshal for ten years. Stoltz has
served as Topeka’s Town Marshal for
20 years.
In 1991, the town of Topeka hired
Stoltz as a liaison with the county EMS
and to oversee ambulance operations
in Topeka. According to Stoltz, “After
a short time it was decided that the
town of Topeka was in need of a second
full-time police officer and I was then
sent to the Indiana Law Enforcement
Academy in January of 1992.” Stoltz
then became Topeka’s town marshal.
Fitch was quick to talk about his
favorite part of the job, “I enjoy working with the citizens, tourists and
the merchants. I’ve worked other law
enforcement jobs and in small towns it
can get monotonous. In Shipshewana
there is not one day that’s like another.
I get to deal with all kinds of unique
people. I’ve met authors. I’ve been
put in a book because I was a marshal
here.” There have also been videos shot
in Shipshewana, including The Devil’s
Playground which was shot during
Scott Stewart’s service as Shipshe town
marshal. After the video was released
it caused a lot of controversy in the
local Amish community and Fitch, who
then was the town marshal, was able to
work closely with the Amish community during that time.
The thing Stoltz likes most about
his job as Marshal in Topeka is the
continued on page 19
Shipshewana & Topeka
Town Marshals
Shipshewana
Scott Stewart
Carl
Stoltz
1987-1999
Gary Smith
November 1999-March 2002
Tom Fitch
March 2002- Present
Topeka
The Hometown Treasure · January ‘13 · pg 17
E.P. (Pixley) Wemple
Boyd Sathers
Gene Sherk
Red Haggard
Floyd Randle
Todd Chupp
Troy Williams
Carl Stoltz
1992- Present