MSP officer Dan Kerstetter to be laid to rest after fatal crash

Loved ones and community members will say goodbye Friday to a Michigan State Police Motor Carrier Officer who died after a crash last week.

Dan Kerstetter had a semi-truck stopped on I-75 near Dix on Sept. 13 when he was rear-ended by another driver who hit the median wall and then continued into the right shoulder, where the officer was sitting in his vehicle.

Kerstetter was pinned inside his vehicle and had to be extricated and was rushed to the hospital. The other driver was killed.

Friday afternoon, Kerstetter was reported to be both coherent and speaking.

Over the weekend, Kersetter was put on life support until the decision was made to remove him from life support and donate his organs.

Kerstetter, a New York native, moved to Michigan in 2009 and was an assistant equipment manager and worked with the Detroit Red Wings for five years before he got his builders' license.

He joined the MSP in January 2023 and graduated in May of that year.

Kerstetter is survived by his wife, Catherine Taylor Kerstetter; their sons, August and Daniel; his stepdaughter, Taylor; his mother, Kathryn; his father, George; his siblings; and was predeceased by his daughter, Reagan Murray.

His funeral will be held 2 p.m. Friday at St. Paul Catholic Church in Grosse Pointe Farms.