May 7, 2026 · Ohio Peace Officers Memorial Ceremony · 4,601 words · 5 speakers · 16 segments
Please rise for the arrival of family members of the fallen and their agency representatives. Present arms! Thank you. . . . Thank you. énom . . . . . . And Or versa Pass now e Thank you. FOR THOSE For those who are able, please remain standing. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Okay Hello valt Thank you. Please remain standing for the national anthem and invocation.
Oh, say, can you see by the dawn's early light what so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming? Whose broad stripes and bright stars Through the perilous fight Nor the ramparts we watched Were so gallantly streaming And the rocket's red glare The bombs bursting in air Gave proof through the night That our flag was still there Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
I invite the Reverend Eddie Parker to deliver today's invocation.
For those of you that are so inclined to, will you please join me as I invoke God's blessings upon this ceremony? Dear God you are called by many names and we live with many uncertainties but there one thing that I am certain of that there is a power that is greater than ourselves And who we are you made us What we have you gave us Where we are you brought us And what we know you taught us So before we go further, we pause and say thank you for another day, for another breath, for another chance. We thank you for this national day of prayer and ask you to let your glory rise above the nations. Thank you for all that have gathered here today. And thank you for our attorney general and his leadership of passion and purpose. And now, God, we intentionally take this moment to invoke your presence as we remember our fallen law enforcement officers and their families. It is written in the Holy Scriptures, very rarely will anyone die for even a righteous person, possibly for a good person. Yet these officers fulfilled their oath and made the ultimate sacrifice to protect and serve. We are thankful for their courage, their sacrifice, and unwavering commitment to justice. God, as we gather here today just opposed amid the eternal flame and the Ohio Peace Officers Training Academy, we confront the paradox of our tears of grief and gratitude for those fallen and our prayers of safety for those yet in sacrificial service. As we glaze at the eternal flame, help us to always honor the legacy of the fateful, fearless fallen officers. And both and at once, please give their families strength to endure, comfort to heal, and hope for each tomorrow. Finally, God, we implore you to be the unseen guests during this solemn ceremony. Stand with us, stay with us, sustain us, and strengthen us. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. In this we humbly pray and say amen.
Thank you, Reverend Parker. Please be seated. As we begin, I ask everyone here to take a moment to look at the memorial behind me. Each name carved into that granite represents a life of service, a family forever changed, and a promise kept. Today we gather to ensure that promise and those lives are never forgotten. Ladies and gentlemen, distinguished guests, members of law enforcement, friends, and honored family members, good morning and welcome to the Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy. Today we gather in a solemn and meaningful way to fulfill one of our most important responsibilities entrusted to us, ensuring that the sacrifice of those who served and gave their lives in the line of duty is never forgotten. memorials such as this stand as a permanent reminder of courage, service, and sacrifice. Each name etched into this wall represents a life committed to protecting others and a loss felt by families, colleagues, and communities. On behalf of Attorney General Dave Yost and the Ohio Peace Officer Training Commission, I welcome you to the 38th Ohio Peace Officer Memorial Service. I am Thomas Quinlan, the Executive Director of the Ohio Peace Officer Training Commission. 26 years ago, this memorial was dedicated. Since then, it has stood as a place where officers, families, and communities gather to honor the fallen with dignity and reverence. Behind every badge was a story. Behind every name is a family. Today we stand beside their loved ones, parents, spouses, children, colleagues, and friends who carry both pride and loss. While no ceremony can ease that burden, we gather to honor the 844 men and women whose names are etched into this memorial, forever bound by courage and service. We bring attention to the four names being added since last year's memorial, lives lost in 2025 in the line of duty. Their addition is a solemn reminder that behind every name is an officer who answered the call and a family forever changed, reflecting the continuing sacrifice made by law enforcement across our state and nation. As we honor them, we recognize that the full measure of sacrifice is not always known in its time. From time to time, history reveals stories that were not fully documented when they occurred. Through careful research, historical review, and the dedication of people committed to preserving the legacy of law enforcement service, we sometimes discover that an officer's death occurring many years ago meets the criteria for line of duty sacrifice. Today is one of those moments. Research has allowed us to recognize six historical additions from 1872 to 1956. Today we announce our commitment to establish a historical marker at this site, ensuring that officers whose line of duty deaths are recognized years, decades, or even centuries later are not forgotten. While the passage of time delayed this recognition has never lessened the value of the service rendered or the sacrifice made. Until that memorial was designed and built, I'd like to express my personal gratitude to Jim Wolf of Wolf Metals, who donated a memorial plaque hanging in our lobby inscribed with our six historical editions. This memorial exists that no loss or sacrifice is lost to time. It stands as a promise to families, to colleagues, and to future generations that the courage of those who serve will always be remembered. No service is lost. No sacrifice is forgotten. It is now my privilege to introduce the chair of the Ohio Peace Officer Training Commission, Fayette County Sheriff Vernon Stanforth.
Good morning to each and every one of you. Today we gather to commit to memory the lives of four good men taken far too soon from us. The goodness of the lives they lived proved that their time here was all too short. One of the most profound verses in the Bible was also short. John 11, 35. Jesus wept Jesus cried when he looked at Lazarus family Not because he believed death was the end Jesus knew it had power to overcome death. He knew this life wasn't the end. But just the beginning of an internal one. a better one with his father. He said, I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. And yet, Jesus cried because his heart was broken. His heart broke for us. He grieves with us when we face the loss of our loved ones. No matter how many of these memorials we do, they never get easier. This is my 40th memorial, 25th as commissioner, and 20th as chair. And each of these officers we are remembering today had something unique and wonderful to offer his family, his friends, and his community. Trooper Nick Caton Officer Phil Wagner Deputy Sheriff Daniel Weston Shearer Special Deputy Sheriff Larry Henderson Four more men who joined the ranks of the 932 brave men and women of Ohio Also taken from us too soon in the line of duty All of them were widely and deeply loved. Nothing will ever be able to fill the void they left behind. Last year, ten children were suddenly left without a father. Four grandchildren without their grandfather. Three wives without their husband. one fiancé without her beloved-to-be. That kind of cost can't be measured. I shudder for the day we break 1,000 fallen. I can't bear to think of that future. I pray it will never come to pass. We are doing everything we can to prevent that from becoming a reality. Every year we ask ourselves, how can we better train our officers? How can we better equip them to face the evils that are out there? What can we do to prevent another loss? Every decision, no matter how small, matters greatly. Growing up, I had a Tom Sawyer kind of life as a boy. We lived in a small settlement in the northwestern part of Fayette County It was a very remote area very rural The nearest village was four miles away So needless to say, we were stuck where we were at. We didn't go very far from home. We didn't go to town, and town didn't come to us. In a place like that, when the sun went down, you had to go home. You were expected to be home before dark. Because when it got dark, it got dark. There were no lights out there. And then one day, someone came along and put a street light in front of the old church. We now had a recreation center in the middle of the street. But it lit up our community, our little neighborhood. That one light opened up a whole new reality for a bunch of 10-year-olds and a community. The kids stayed out late to play. We could stay out after dark now. Dark didn't feel so oppressive. That one light had so much power. And I thought about that, the effect of what one light has. I'm putting up one light, and I reflected on the tragedy we just experienced last week in Columbus. An officer was shot twice in pursuit of a suspect. One of the bullets hit the femoral artery. 60 seconds the clock started ticking on his life that's all the time he had his fellow officers rushed to save him they scooped him up threw him in a cruiser and sped way to the hospital as the news broke hundreds across the city stood in silent prayer Patrol cars lined up outside the hospital. Prayer is powerful, but it is also our duty. It is our duty to act to facilitate those prayers. The fate of that officer last week was decided months, if not years, before training came into place. It was decided through every policy in that agency, every training provided by that agency, to address situations just like that. there was just not one light put in place, but many to peel away the darkness. Because Ohio chooses to put the welfare of her officers first, those officers last week had the training to stretch those 60 seconds, just long enough to get their brother to the hospital in time. They were calm They were capable And in the face of great evil Just like Nick Phil Weston And Larry proved to be in their service Of course, you had some who weren't happy with the outcome. They don't like officers, never have, and probably never will. One thing I know for certain, their small minds are incapable of understanding the selflessness and the sacrifice it takes every day to put on this uniform. They are incapable of understanding that those officers last week, officers just like Nick, Phil, Weston, and Larry, had the strength of character to help even those who want to hurt or kill them. Because less than a minute after the shooting stopped, there those officers were trying to save the suspect's life. The shooter passed away, and he now faces a greater judgment than any jury could provide on earth. But the officer lives, and we praise God for that. There are those out there who will never fathom the giants in life that Nick, Phil, Weston, and Larry were. Their estimation of a man matters little. many more including us know the truth about those four men. The truth is their final moments on this earth represented what Jesus called the greatest act of love because they died in the service to us all. And I promise this to you you will always have this community. we will always support you and we will always support all the families of the fallen we will never forget Nick we will never forget Phil we will never forget Weston and we will never forget Larry ever that includes one of the closest friends that I've had in many years. I've known Attorney Generals over the years, worked side by side with many, but never more patient, more understanding for the law enforcement officers that he's responsible for and for the community that he has served for many decades. Coming to the platform now will be our Attorney General of Ohio, Dave Yost. And I turn the podium over to him. Our prayers are with you. May God bless each and every one of you.
It's been a long time since the first time I attended this memorial. Seven years ago, I stood here for the first time as the Attorney General. With the somber and solemn duty to remember our fallen, today will be the last day I am here in that role. It will not be the last time I am here. I've been reflecting on the lives of the 36 officers we've laid to rest during these seven years. I remember Matthew Mazani, 14-year veteran of the Mentor Police Department, who we remembered on this spot in 2019. He kept an image of Satan on the inside of his locker door. In an interview after his death, Lisa Mazani remembered that she once asked him why. And she recounted his answer. He said it reminds him of who he fights against every day when he goes to work. And that was the mindset and the heart of this beautiful, fearless man when he laced up his boots, put his gun on his hip, and walked out into the world. That's why we're here today. because there is evil loose in the world, and someone must stand and fight against it. That's the mission of more than 31,000 sworn peace officers in this great state. Now, it's become unfashionable in recent years to talk about law enforcement as warriors, so we learn not to use that word around other people, but it does not change what is real. Now the politicians and the activists will say, but you're there to keep the peace, to protect and to serve, and so you are. They say, you're not at war with the community, and everybody who wears the badge would say, of course not. Why would you think that? here's what I'd like them all to know because I don't think they're wrong I think that they just don't understand what you do or why you do it when we talk about being a warrior we're not talking about fighting a war against the community against the people we serve It's not even especially the fright against crime or the criminals that commit it. No, that fight is against the evil that's loose in the world, and there's simply no denying that it's there. You cannot look at the world with your eyes wide open and not conclude that it is so. It is that evil that is the threat against our lives, our homes, our children. and it requires warriors for the good to fight against that threat. Warriors that fight, as G.K. Chesterton said, not for the hatred of the enemy in front of them, but for the love of what is behind. Sometimes one of those warriors for the good doesn't come back from the fight. Last year, as you've heard, four of them didn't come home. Nick Caton Phil Wagner Weston Shearer Larry Henderson If you permit me I like to briefly revisit their lives I will start with Trooper Nicholas Caton Nick Nick was an Ohio Army National Guard veteran. He deployed twice overseas, served in Afghanistan, Trooper of the Year in 2022. In all things, he worked hard, inspired others. His fellow soldiers remembered that he was a light in the darkest days of deployment, an infectious humor, optimism, unmatched leadership. But it wasn't all seriousness and duty all the time. DJ Nick was the life of the party. He coached his son's football team, the Canfield Little Cardinals, and he played bagpipe for the Steel Valley Pipes and Drums and for the State Patrol. When he wasn't protecting and serving, he was filling other people's lives with music and laughter. He married his high school sweetheart the year before he deployed to Iraq. They had a son and a daughter. he loved deeply and he was loved back. Special Deputy Sheriff Larry Henderson Jr. I have a personal memory here because tomorrow was the Friday one year ago that we had his memorial service down in Cincinnati. I was supposed to be somewhere else. I went to that service because that's what I thought my duty required of me. And the meeting that I blew off was my political party deciding who they were going to endorse for governor. And somebody told my wife at the end of that meeting, Dave should have been here. No, no sir. I was where I should have been with Deputy Henderson. Larry served in the Marines before his 30 years of amazing service as a law enforcement officer. He accomplished much and inspired many through all the different hats he wore. War, academy instructor, dive team member, SWAT team member, FBI task force member, bomb tech. When the risk was high, Larry volunteered. And he had a remarkable tact for diffusing tech in difficult situations, keeping everyone calm under pressure. Nobody was surprised when he won the Medal of Valor for his bravery. But he also loved to make jokes and could readily take a joke as well. His fellow officers remember how he made working at the sheriff's office fun and lively with his wisecracks and pranks. He understood how important levity was in a time of work to keep morale up. As he would say, it's all good, man. As a school resource officer, Larry had a good rapport with the kids. He had that effect even as an authority figure because above all things he was an amazing family man A husband father to five grandfather to four and a foster parent Just like his career Larry along with his wonderful wife Laurie volunteered for the toughest foster cases He cared for and prioritized those innocent kids. And she told me that one of them is still with her. his kind heart also extended to animals he gave countless dogs a second chance and a loving home in all he did he was eager to relieve fellow officers of burdens I've got it was his watchword Officer Philip Wagner Phil another veteran Marine combat veteran served two tours of duty, including Afghanistan. Turns out warriors for the good often get their initial training on the battlefield. Phil didn't like being called a hero coming back from deployment because he felt that the heroes were the ones who laid down their lives for others. Well, Phil, you're a hero. He had an expert passion and respect for guns. I enjoyed hearing about his encounter with a rare part from a World War II weapon that was turned into the department. It's too bad he couldn't add it to his collection. He spent time training and testing to join the SWAT team and he earned his SWAT pin on July 22nd. Confident he would have made an indispensable member of that team. Shortly before he was called home, Phil told his wife he was considering becoming a pastor. He wanted to be a refuge for his fellow officers to show them the hope available to them in Jesus. One book that Phil read multiple times cover to cover, including the first time in Afghanistan, was the power of a praying husband. That was the one thing he prayed for on his deployment. He wanted a wife and a family. And he was a great husband and a father to three children. They were exactly the blessings he had prayed for. Phil would have made a fine pastor. Morrow County Deputy Daniel Weston Scherer Yesterday I am pleased to report that his killer accepted responsibility for his actions in the Morrow County Common Pleas Court and he will spend the rest of his life in prison without possibility of parole During his training, Weston's teammates nicknamed him Goose, as in Top Gun. Weston earned such a great nickname because he checked every box for the essential C-traits of a solid team member. confident candid capable calm common sense composed comforting clearheaded cooperative and of course rich in character Even broken people encountered Weston and felt hope from his presence Shortly after he passed three inmates called home in tears A known criminal showed up to a candlelight vigil to pay his respects. Wherever he went, Weston strove to bring peace. His rich character mended something in the broken. Last year I had the privilege of reading a letter that Weston wrote when he was just six years old. I still think about that letter. He'd written this, my big dream is to become a policeman. I want to catch the villains and I'm willing to risk my life for the people of the United States. Even as a little boy, Weston exhibited the bravery, passion, and courage that marks the heart of a warrior. These four men all had the heart of a warrior for the good. Someone who knows both how to fight and how to heal, how to defend and how to make peace. someone who understands the difference between them and when to do each one. Know that the legacies of Nick, Larry, Weston, and Phil will live on through you, through all of us, our service and our remembrances carved forever in the eternal stone of this place. C.S. Lewis once wrote this, Since it is so likely that children will encounter cruel enemies, let them at least have heard of brave knights and heroic courage. Ladies and gentlemen, today we have all heard once again of brave knights and heroic courage. There are cruel enemies in the world. let us remember what we have seen and heard and teach our children to hope.
We will now memorialize our fallen officers. Deputy Sheriff Larry R. Henderson, Jr., Hamilton County Sheriff's Office. End of watch, May 2, 2025. Thank you. Thank you. D. Weston Shearer, Morrow County Sheriff's Office. End of watch, May 26, 2025. Thank you. Officer Philip C. Wagner, Lorraine Police Department. End of watch. July 24, 2025. Thank you. Trooper Nicholas P. Caton, Ohio State Highway Patrol. End of watch, October 16, 2025. Thank you
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Please rise for the firing battery salute, the sounding of taps, and the presentation of colors.
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Please be seated and observe a moment of silence while we wait for the helicopter flyover. if you wish a better view of the helicopter flyover feel free to step outside the tent and that will be followed by Amazing Grace and the Riderless Horse
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Thank you Thank you As we come to the close of today memorial let us reflect in the deep courage and unwavering dedication of the men and women we honor. Their bravery, integrity, and commitment endures. I'd like to thank and recognize the staff here at APADA and all those across the Attorney General's office who worked so hard at maintaining this memorial and the surrounding grounds. Following this event, exclusively for the surviving family members of any of the following officers' names who are on this memorial wall and the agencies that we're honored today, please join us in the gymnasium for refreshments catered by COPS, the Ohio chapter of concerns for police survivors. I extend my thanks and appreciation to the immediate National Past President of COPS, Connie Moyer, who is with us today. To the families and loved ones, your strength and resilience inspire us all. Their legacy will continue to shape the future of law enforcement, serving as a beacon of honor for generations to come. As we leave this place, we carry their names, their sacrifice, and their legacy, honoring them not only in memory, but in how we live, serve, and stand together, knowing their watch ended only because they gave everything. I now invite Reverend Eddie Parker to return to the lectern for the benediction. Let us stand as I close this ceremony
with a final prayer for the family. God, as we leave this place, let us take a valued lesson from the committed sacrifice of our fallen officers our warriors understanding that not everybody can be famous but everybody can be great because greatness is determined by service And God the heart of the matter is a matter of the heart. And God, please change the hearts and minds of evil persons in our community and protect all officers as they serve. We are often left with more questions than answers, but please give us grace to heal. Hope to understand that if we give up now, our wounds are worthless and our pain will serve no purpose. So God bless our necks. And in this final prayer, I pray that in time, that the precious memories of our loved ones outweigh the trauma of our misery. In time, let the memory of our loved ones bring a smile to our lips before it brings a tear to our eyes. And when this state ceremony has concluded, when the crowd is gone, when the Henderson family, the Sherer family, the Wagner and Caton family stare alone at their memorial plaque. God, be their comfort. And when their heart is overwhelmed, be their rock. I know you can, and I know you will, for God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in the time of our trouble. And finally, God, take each one of us home safely through many dangers, toils, and snares. We have already come. It was your grace that brought us safe this far, and grace shall lead us on. And together we say amen.
Thank you, Reverend Parker. And thank you all for joining us today. Sergeant-at-arms, take charge of the detail. This concludes today's ceremony.