PAW PAW – Sgt. Lena Wresinski, assigned to the Paw Paw Post, was recognized as the 2025 Trooper of the Year. The Gerstacker Trooper of the Year Award recognizes the MSP trooper or sergeant who symbolizes outstanding professional ethics, dedication to duty and a concern for giving back to their community. The late Dr. Carl A. Gerstacker, former chairman of Dow Chemical Company, created the award in 1961.
Sergeant Wresinski demonstrates true leadership every shift and isn’t satisfied with status quo. She hones her skills quietly and is highly respected as the kind of person every trooper hopes to work under – steady, sharp and always ready to step in. Her peers indicate she handles tough situations with both professionalism and heart, according to a MSP press release.
When managing a 10-car pileup during a winter storm, she identified a child in need of transport to the hospital but there was no way for an ambulance to get close enough. Without hesitation, she loaded the child and their parent into her cruiser and took them to the hospital.
Last May, Sergeant Wresinski was instrumental in organizing a canine handler reunion and recognition at the post to honor all those who had served there since 1963 when the first handler was assigned.
She has voluntarily placed herself in the National Marrow Donation Program, selflessly donating blood and stem cells saving an untold number of lives. Because Sergeant Wresinski lost a colleague and close friend to cancer, she now assists with planning and running the annual Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety Golf Outing that honors her friend.
Sergeant Wresinski enlisted with the MSP in 2014 graduating as a member of the 126th Trooper Recruit School.
