Rhonda Westrich

Rhonda Gail Westrich, 46, of Cape Girardeau died Friday, May 28, 2004, at her home.

She was born July 9, 1957, at Bonne Terre, Mo., daughter of Kenneth B. and Willma D. Allen Cunningham. She and Dallas E. Westrich were married April 30, 1988, at Cape Girardeau.

Westrich worked for the Department of Public Safety in Sikeston, Mo., from 1983 to 1985, then for the Cape Girardeau Police Department until 1998. She was employed by Cape Girardeau Sheriff's Department as a domestic violence officer, forensic child abuse investigator and criminal investigator. Westrich was a member of the Cape Girardeau/ Bollinger County Major Case Squad; the Women's Safe House and Hostage Negotiator Team. She received the Tim Ruopp Award and Copeland Excellence Award. Westrich attended the Basic and Masters Death Investigation School at St. Louis University and received SCAN Investigator training.

She was also a student at Southeast Missouri State University and attended Lighthouse Bible Baptist Church in Cape Girardeau.

Survivors include her husband; her father, Kenneth B. Cunningham of Okeechobee, Fla.; two sons, Phillip A. Westrich of Jackson, David K. Yarbrough of St. Louis; a daughter, Alyssa D. Yarbrough of St. Charles, Mo.; two brothers, Kenneth A. Cunningham of Jackson, the Rev. Doug Lucy of Albany, Ind.; and a sister, Brandi G. Parker of Morris, Colo.

She was preceded in death by her mother.

Friends may call from 4 to 8 p.m. today at Ford and Sons Mount Auburn Funeral Home.

Funeral will be at 10 a.m. Monday at the funeral home, with the Revs. David Pringle and Doug Lucy officiating. Burial will be in Cape County Memorial Park.