Scuba accident kills retired deputy police chief, Nebraska cops say. ‘Amazing human’

An accident while scuba diving killed a veteran police officer in Hawaii, and now the Nebraska communities he was an integral part of are in mourning and disbelief.

Mark Sundermeier died in a scuba diving accident in Hawaii on Saturday, Oct. 22, the Bennington Police Department said in an Oct. 24 news release. Bennington police told KETV that the 62-year-old was scuba diving with his wife at the time of the accident.

A veteran police officer, Sundermeier worked part-time as an officer in Bennington, Nebraska, since 2009 when he retired as a deputy chief of the Omaha Police Department, the release said. Both departments mourned the loss.

Bennington Police Chief Andrew Hilscher said in the release that “Officer Sundermeier was one of the most kindest, caring, and intelligent officers and person that I have ever had the privilege of working with and knowing. His passing is truly heart breaking.”

The Omaha Police Chief Todd Schmaderer told the Omaha World-Herald that “Retired Deputy Chief Mark Sundermeier left a good legacy for himself at the Omaha Police Department and we are saddened by his sudden passing.”

No specific details regarding the scuba diving accident have been released.

Sundermeier began his career in law enforcement in 1983 as an Omaha police officer, the Omaha World-Herald reported. He also co-owned the Omaha Wood Company, a woodworking company that uses salvaged lumber, according to its Facebook page.

“To anyone who knew Mark Sundermeier, we knew he was an amazing human being and this is a tragedy,” one mourner said on Facebook.

“The world lost a kind, intellectual, funny and caring soul when Mark Sundermeier passed away,” another person shared on Facebook.

Bennington is about 15 miles northwest of Omaha.

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