Funeral service set for Red Lake officer killed in crash while responding to call
Officer Jesse Branch (Courtesy of the Red Lake Department of Public Safety)
Memorial services have been set for Jesse Branch, a Red Lake police officer who died while responding to a call last week in Beltrami County.
Branch, 35, died in a crash with another vehicle early Wednesday morning on Highway 1 near Heart Lake. The driver of the other car, Alan Lussier Jr., also died.
According to an obituary, a visitation will for Branch will be held from 6-8 p.m. Friday at Olson-Schwartz Funeral Home in Bemidji. Funeral services are set for at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Humanities Building in Red Lake, with an interment afterward at Holy Cross Cemetery in Bemidji.
In a Facebook post, the Beltrami County Sheriff’s Office remembered Branch as a “professional officer who loved the community he served.” The sheriff’s office also provided an escort for his body.
The Red Lake Nation Chairman Darrell Seki Jr. and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz ordered flags to fly at half-staff last week in Branch’s honor.
The Front Line Foundation shared that it gave $20,000 in death benefit money to Branch’s family. The foundation added that in 2024 alone, it has paid out seven death benefits for officers killed on duty — the most it has paid out in one calendar year.
The Minnesota State Patrol and FBI are investigating the crash.