Hundreds pay respect along procession for officer killed in Anamosa prison attack

ELY, Iowa (KCRG) - Hundreds paid tribute along a processional route across Iowa to honor Corrections Officer Robert McFarland, one of the two people killed in Tuesday’s attack at the Anamosa State Penitentiary.

McFarland and Lorena Schulte, a registered nurse, both died following an attack by two prisoners attempting to escape the prison.

“It’s pretty touching,” said Jake Hansen, one of the neighbors. “It’s really heartfelt like I said we lived here a long time and small communities like this when stuff like this happens to one of our own it’s pretty surreal.”

Representatives from law enforcement agencies and fire departments joined Saturday’s procession that began in Des Moines. Tributes to McFarlan appeared along the route heading to Cedar Rapids with firefighters, law enforcement, and corrections officials gathering at several overpasses to pay their respects as the procession passed.

McFarland, 46, lived in Ely where he was also a volunteer firefighter. Mourners gathered the streets to honor McFarland as the procession traveled by the Ely Fire Department on its way to Cedar Rapids where a visitation will take place Sunday afternoon. He’s survived by his wife and three children.

“This is a sad ordeal,” said Jan Albers of Cedar Rapids. “It shouldn’t have happened. It did, so we just wanted to be supportive and anyway we can.”

A public visitation will take place from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday at Brosh Chapel in Cedar Rapids. A memorial service is scheduled for Monday at 1 p.m.. at Antioch Christian Church just outside of Cedar Rapids.

Lorena Schulte, 50, of Cedar Rapids, had been a registered nurse at the Anamosa State Penitentiary since 2007.

A similar procession took place for Lorena Schulte on Friday with tributes along the route from Des Moines to Cedar Rapids.

Friends described her as strong and quiet. She graduated from Cedar Rapids Regis High School in 1988 and received her degree in criminal justice at Kirkwood Community College. She would later earn her RN. She is remembered as a green thumb and loved being an aunt. She is survived by her parents and four siblings.

Memorial services for Schulte begin at 3 p.m. Sunday at Murdoch-Linwood Funeral Home with a rosary service followed by a public visitation until 6 p.m. A private service and burial will be held later.

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