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Rostraver detective’s passion for law enforcement lives on

4 min read
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Stacie O’Toole and Emily Beech are shown in a mock jail at last year’s murder mystery dinner.

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Part of the crowd at the 2015 murder mystery event.

Rostraver Township detective Timothy F. Sethman enjoyed a rich and full career in law enforcement and was especially passionate about the field of forensics. Even after his death at the age of 51, his legacy lives on in the form of an endowment that funds college students pursuing the same career he so dearly loved.

Although Sethman worked in the coal mines for a couple of years, his career in law enforcement started when became a member of the North Belle Vernon Police Department in the mid-1980s. Over the next 10 years, he worked there, as well as for the police departments of South Greensburg and Rostraver.

In 1996, he became a forensics detective for the Westmoreland County district attorney’s office. Motivated to further his education in the field, he enrolled in the criminal justice program at California University of Pennsylvania, from which he graduated with his son, Michael, also a criminal justice major, in 2005.

During his career, Sethman was recognized for his forensics expertise, especially in the areas of crime scene, fingerprints, footprints and photography, which he used locally as well as for state and federal law enforcement agencies and as an adjunct professor at Waynesburg University.

But on July 28, 2013, after spending the day boating, he died unexpectedly of a heart attack.

“Tim loved what he did in his career and wanted to give something back to the community and the students going on in the same field he was so passionate about,” said his widow, Darla Sethman of Rostraver. “That’s why his brother, Richard Sethman of Scenery Hill, a retired Pennsylvania state trooper, and Adam Jack of Waynesburg, former fellow detective for Westmoreland County, came up with the idea of creating an endowment to award scholarships to students pursuing a similar career.”

The organizers decided to establish the scholarship endowment at Waynesburg University, which stipulates a requirement that at least $10,000 must be raised over a five-year period to fund the endowment. Through donations and several fundraisers, that sum was raised by then family within one year. Over the past 3 1/2 years, approximately $20,000 has been raised for the endowment, and the first scholarship was distributed in 2014.

The financial aid office at Waynesburg University selects the students for the scholarship. Requirements outlined by the donors include that preference be given to a Belle Vernon Area High School student majoring in criminal justice or forensic science. If no Belle Vernon Area High School students are eligible, preference is then given to a student from Westmoreland County.

Each year, the university sends the family members a letter informing them of the name of the selected student.

“Our entire family was involved in establishing the endowment,” Darla Sethman said. “Our first fundraiser was a golf outing at the Madison Club, just off the Madison exit of Interstate 70 It was a lot of work but proved successful in that we raised $8,000.”

The family also holds murder mystery dinners in cooperation with a company of actors from Pittsburgh who work under the name Mysteries Most Wanted. Every year since the fundraisers started, the family chose a theme and matched a caterer best suited to the theme.

The first year, for instance, the murder mystery had a mobster theme, so the family chose an Italian caterer. Last year, for the Western-themed show, they brought in one that specialized in barbecue. This year, the theme for the third annual murder mystery fundraiser is the Bates Motel, and they’ve hired 2 Fine Caterers, who are affiliated with the Back Porch Restaurant and Speer Street Grill.

This year’s murder mystery dinner is scheduled for 6 p.m. Nov. 12 at the Rostraver Township Fire Hall. Tickets are $50, which includes dinner, entertainment, beer and mixers. The event is also BYOB. Tickets are limited, so reservations should be made early by phoning 724-518-1514.

“We’d like to thank all the family and friends who continue to support these fundraisers,” Darla Sethman said. “My husband would be honored and humbled by their efforts. Without them, the endowment would not be possible.”

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