Roll of Honor
Incident
Deputy Sheriff John Gunsell was killed in an automobile crash on Dickerson Road while responding to assist another deputy at an accident call.
Deputy Gunsell, the passenger in the patrol car, was thrown from the vehicle when it went out of control on a series of S-curves. He was transported to Otsego Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Deputy Gunsell had served with the Otsego County Sheriff's Department for five years and previously served with the Caseville Police Department for 12 years and other departments for an additional four years.
Survivors
He is survived by his four children.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-MI-91D23D71- Stewardship
- Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
- Added to badge.nw
- April 2, 2026
- Last updated
- July 23, 2026
Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.
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Tributes
21 years. You could have gone home.
Deputy Sheriff Gunsell gave the Otsego County Sheriff's Office 21 years. Still answering calls at the end.
Thank you for your service to the Gaylord community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Deputy Sheriff Gunsell.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Deputy Sheriff John Kevin Gunsell is one of 10,088 officers lost to accidents in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 31% of all 32,508 officers honored here.
In MI, 229 of 718 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 31.9% of this state's fallen. That is 0.9 percentage points above the national rate of 31%.
At Otsego County Sheriff's Dept., 1 of 3 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 33.3% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. John Kevin Gunsell's cause is highlighted.
How John Kevin Gunsell Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. John Kevin Gunsell is highlighted in Sep.
Others Who Wore This Badge
2 officers from Otsego County Sheriff's Dept. are honored on badge.nw.
