With a sad heart, be at peace Ofc. Hite

The events of yesterday have been in the works for a week now. Last weekend, Officer Erik Hite was killed in the streets of Tucson, while in pursuit of a lunatic. Yesterday we, as a community, buried this fine man.

My story is like many - I'm the wife of a fellow TPD officer, one of Erik's co-workers and brothers/sisters in uniform. I had my "supportive wife" hat on. I was just one of many there with our spouse to pay our respect to this man and his family. It's a hat I pray never to wear again. Although yesterday was unbelievably, overwhelmingly sad, it had so many shining moments. Moments that left me speechless and humbled. My day started out with a mad dash to Code 14 (Eastside Police Substation). I had to meet Rick there by 8:30 since he worked Monday night, got off at 7am, and didn't come home. We left for the church so that his patrol car could be in position for the procession to the cemetery. On a typical day, this drive would have only taken a few minutes - it took almost 20. The traffic was really congested - police & motor units from near and far were all making their way to Pantano Christian Church at the same time. As we got to the church it looked like the parking lot of a major sporting event, only that the cars were vehicles from police, fire, DPS, Air Force, sheriff, Border Patrol, airport, US Forest Service, Homeland Security... the list could go on. I was shocked. Where we had to park looked like a sea of black & whites. Only TPD units...and it looked like every car that wasn't on patrol was there. As far as you could see, there were TPD cars, SUVs, or specialty vehicles. That should have prepared me for what was to come.

The Church: 10:00 start time
Nearly 3000, yes thousand, people sat inside this church. There was a beautiful mix of blue, black, green, grey, beige - all mixed together as officers sat next to each other regardless of branch or rank. This doesn't include the hundreds of officers that where outside for honor guard, traffic detail, etc. The was a low hum of conversation that was occurring for the 30 minutes + we waited. As the motor units pulled into the driveway and past the glass entry doors of the church, the room almost immediately went silent. You could have heard a mouse squeak it was so quite. No movement, no words - just stillness. As Officer Hite was brought into the church he was lead by his 19 year old son Roy & Roy's wife Katie, both in their Air Force dress uniform. A flag draped casket was flanked by several TPD officers, airmen and two of Erik's friends from other agencies. His widow, Nohemy, visibly upset and overwhelmed, was helped to her seat by the two officers holding her up on her feet. Following Nohemy, was a tiny little girl in the arms of a woman. A, just by a few days, one year old dressed in her Sunday best. This was Officer Hite's daughter Samantha. Several other family members were in line behind them. After everyone was seated, the ceremony began. It was amazing. From the dozen (if I counted right) speakers, we were all shown to the wonders of this great man. He was brave, honest, dependable, trusting, motivating, spiritual, inspirational, kind, generous, loving...everything that makes the best man you can imagine. These people were involved in his life in various forms stood in front of us, trying so hard to maintain composure - be a strong man and not cry, spoke so lovingly about Erik. His son, Roy, was the only one of them that handled it like the strongest of men. What I can only imagine as the most difficult thing ever, called his Dad his best friend and hero. It was the most impressive few minutes of this whole day. Not a pause, not a tear, not a struggle - he just did it!!! We saw two video tributes to Erik. Both full of images that made us all smile. These were images of his life. Images with his family, children, wife, friends and co-workers, his prized "Old Blue" and his Harley. Several of his favorite songs were sung and his favorite scripture passages read. There was the "police business" done - different items presented to Nohemy and the family by several different people of position. After two hours of church service, it was time to head to the cemetery. Imagine the time it takes to get 3000 people into cars and wait. This was the time for TPD and the city to shine. This was what it was all about...showing the family that we all cared.

The Cemetery: en route at 12:35
First, let it be known that I've never seen anything remotely close to this. I can't count how many funerals I've been to, some of which had a military ceremony at graveside. This was unlike anything I think most have seen. As you may have noticed from slide show link above, there were a lot of motorcycles - nearly 200 of them at the beginning of the procession. Our position in the motorcade was about 1.5 miles behind the family and 8.5 miles in front of the last car. Yes - over 10 MILES of cars, single file. We were getting the traffic report from "Air1" over the police radio. I never thought being in the back of a police car would be such an emotionally difficult experience. Words can't describe the feelings that I had while driving through the city. The streets were lined with people - of all age & race. Flags were being flown, hands over hearts, tears flowing, salutes - you name it. Everywhere you looked, there were people. Every single street out of neighborhoods, both sides of the road, every intersection had at least one police person/car, some had two. All the major intersections had fire trucks, more police and even more people. So many people... it made me cry more than once. All I kept thinking was "God, I hope this never happens to me. How do you explain this to a child? This is amazing. I can't believe what I'm seeing!"

The Cemetery: arrival @ 1something
As we pulled into the cemetery there were more people, flags, police cars, more everything just now, it was all contained in one tight space. There were tents set up all over the place. It is summer here and we were lucky to have 104 degree day with a dry, hot, dirt filled breeze. It sucked! We were separated from our spouses - they went where the cops went and we went under a tent next to them. There was a huge group of officers from other agencies making up an honor guard, a group of Air Force, 7 additional airmen for the 21 gun salute, 2 buglers, the bagpipers, a dozen or so mounted patrol (horses), American Legion people, and lots of other "people". As the casket was take out of the hearse and brought over to the site, the bagpipers began "Amazing Grace" and my heart broke. That song, no matter where I am, will make me cry. I think it's because of all the funerals I've been to. It's a standard in any Catholic funeral mass, so I've always heard it under sad circumstances. Typical military service...lots of saluting, lots of order & properness. As you can imagine, the 21 gun salute was heartwrenching. Taps was played, cry cry cry...I REALLY hate that part. I kept thinking about Rick. He'd never been to a funeral that wasn't for a Jewish person and never one of military service. He didn't have any point of reference for the emotions that were thrust upon him during all this. It was so strange, so out of his comfort zone. I couldn't see him in the rows of TPD officers, but I knew he was not alone. He was surrounded by people all feeling the same thing he did. A group of helicopters flew over head in formation. As Chief Miranda present Nohemy with Erik's flag, even from as far as we were standing, you could hear her sob, crying out "No". Cry, cry, cry even more. A friend of ours was standing in front of me, and as I grabbed Gwen's shoulder, I prayed that we never be in Nohemy's shoes. After the casket was lowered into the earth, it was very quite outside. A high pitched sound went off. The emergency tone was sounded... this was the part I knew Rick would not take well. This was the last time Erik's designator would be called out - "Four-Adam-three-seven" "Four-Adam-three-seven" "Four-Adam-three-seven"... cry, cry, cry. You could see that this hit home with every single one of the TPD officers, most of whom had their heads down and tears in their eyes. It was very well said - he will not be forgotten, ever. As doves were released into our beautiful blue sky, the bagpiper played "Danny Boy" and the service ended. The Hite family gathered around the graveside and said their final goodbyes to Erik. His poor wife was literally carried to the limousine by one of Erik's academy classmates and dear friend. That poor woman has been through so much - I think yesterday it all came to head. She is an amazing woman - so strong for so many. Cry, cry, cry...
We left the cemetery near 2:30. Rick had now been awake for over 24 hours and was physically & emotionally exhausted. Finally got home sometime near 3:30. He went straight to bed and I sat around with the kids. My mom hat was put on again. Everyone was in bed and fast asleep at 7:45, so I took three ibuprofen and crawled my sunburned, aching, bloodshot eyed, exhausted body into bed. I said one last prayer for the Hite family and went to sleep.
My heart is filled with so many emotions right now. My head full of confusion. All the how's and why's and what-if's...Time heals all!

I prayer that, in time, Nohemy and her family will heal from this horrific tragedy. I pray that her soul will mend and she is given a new hope in life. One day, she will smile and be happy again.

To all those brave men and women that wear the badge - be safe, be smart and watch out for each other. You have the support of me, this family and the citizens of Tucson.

Officer Hite... Rest in peace with the Lord. Know that you will not be forgotten and know that your family has a community and your TPD family standing by their side. I look forward to meeting you one day - you are one in a million.