The day Michelle Rebman found out the South Carolina Highway Patrol was naming a K-9 in her late husband’s honor is a day she’ll never forget. A few months after her husband, Trooper Daniel Keith Rebman died in the line of duty, she, her mother and daughter were eating at a restaurant when they saw several troopers’ cars parked outside.
“My little girl ran up to a trooper and said, ‘Hi, my daddy was a trooper,’” she recalled. “And this trooper looks at her and goes, ‘I know. I knew your daddy. My dog is named after your daddy, and he’s in my car right now. Do you want to go meet him?”
That sweet encounter of fate left a memorable impact as K-9 Rebman and his first handler, Trooper First Class Jesse Cannon, had just returned from training and hadn’t even had a chance to notify the family of this special honor.
After nearly seven years of service to the state of South Carolina, K-9 Rebman was officially retired during the annual Fallen Trooper Service of Remembrance on April 25, where his namesake was recognized as one of 51 South Carolina troopers killed in the line of duty.
It is a tradition within the Highway Patrol to name K-9 officers after fallen troopers, as a way to honor the trooper’s service while ensuring their memory lives on.
“I struggle finding words to express what an honor it is for our son to be remembered in such a way,” said Dan Rebman, Trooper D.K. Rebman’s father. “We can’t thank the Highway Patrol and Department of Public Safety enough for what they’ve done. It’s an honor for the families to still have their troopers name remembered and their service, in a way, continued.”
K-9 Rebman joined the Highway Patrol in October 2018, just a year after Trooper Rebman’s patrol car was hit from behind by a vehicle on Interstate 385 in Greenville County. The trooper’s family says he would be touched for receiving such an incredible honor, and thrilled to know a K-9 is serving on his team.
“Keith would never have imagined the kind of honor that was given to him,” Michelle Rebman said of her late husband. “He was just a country boy from Florida, and dreamed of being a trooper.”
His passing left the family grieving, and struggling to carry on his sense of purpose and passion. Tess Rebman, Keith’s mother, recalled how lost she felt navigating her loss until she remembered the story her son had told her about a stranger who bought him a cup of coffee while he was working.
“We heard this story over and over again. Unbeknownst to me, I just thought ‘no big deal,’ but it actually has been a very big deal throughout my journey of walking this world without him,” she said. “He was so blessed by that cup of coffee.”
It was then when Cup of Blue was formed. Tess and Dan Rebman starting putting on a picnic for law enforcement held each year around the time of their son’s end of watch date. It moved from a backyard to a public park, and it grew bigger than they could ever imagine.
Michelle and her daughters have attended every Cup of Blue event, where the girls participate by singing or playing the trumpet for attendees. They also take a trip each year around his birthday, calling it “Big Fun for Dad’s Forever 31” and hold annual cookouts each fall to acknowledge his end-of-watch date.
“We are seven years out, and we remember Keith,” she said. “He’s alive in our family every single day.”
Tragically, K-9 Rebman’s first handler, Trooper First Class Jesse Cannon, passed away in 2019. His death came less than a year after he and K-9 Rebman were introduced as a team. During his time as a K-9 handler, Cannon got to know the Rebman family well and participated in a photoshoot with Michelle and her daughters for the one-year anniversary of Rebman’s death. In honoring Trooper Rebman’s memory and K-9 Rebman’s service, they say Cannon is an integral part of their family’s story and that they will never forget who he was and how he made them feel.
Over the course of his career, K-9 Rebman conducted 37 searches, six tracks, and completed more than 1,200 training exercises. His work resulted in the seizure of 3,441 grams of marijuana; 5,204 grams of cocaine; 2,034 grams of methamphetamine; 400 units of MDMA (or ecstasy); and more than $58,000 in currency.
K-9 Rebman will spend his well-earned retirement at the home of his current handler, Corporal A.L. Blair. The retirement may mark an end for K-9 Rebman’s career, but the legacy of Trooper Rebman is forever imprinted on the hearts of his family, friends and the Highway Patrol.
“It was everything for him to wear the uniform,” Michelle said. “His dream of working the job turned into this legacy of his name, with K-9 Rebman continuing the job Keith wanted to do — and finishing the job he started.”
