Corbeilles make big donation to Brillion PD

By David Nordby

The Brillion News

The full version of this story appears in the Aug. 7, 2025, print edition of The Brillion News.

BRILLION – Frenchy and Barbara Corbeille made a $15,000 donation to the Brillion Police Department (BPD).

The money will go toward the new garage at the shooting range that the BPD uses as a training site. The couple says they read the article in last week’s Brillion News about the project and quickly decided to make the donation.

“Declining mobility prevents us from going on long trips and spending a lot of money, so we’ve accumulated a little,” Frenchy said. “We said, ‘Let’s do that,’ so that was the decision that was easily reached.”

Chief Kirk Schend and Officer Ben Bastian expressed their gratitude for the donation in a meeting on Monday.

The Corbeilles had two instances last year where the Brillion PD were big helpers to them at their house.

Unfortunately, the police were needed. Fortunately, they were there to help.

The first one, on July 2, was when emergency medical help was needed for Barbara.

“I had never done that before in my life. Two o’clock in the morning I’m punching up the numbers. The first person through the door was a uniformed policeman,” Frenchy recalled Monday, remembering Officer Tony Schweigl coming in his house. “He was the first guy through the door, and he stayed until after the ambulance left, and then he drove away. I was comforted by that. I really was. When he came in, I said, ‘Oh boy, things are going to be OK.’ Because I was pretty shook up.”

Schend said the police “pride themselves on that.”