Thousands pay respects to fallen Ont. police officer

 

By Megan O'Toole, Jessica Hume and Aileen Donnelly, Postmedia News July 5, 2011

 

 

Melissa Styles carries her ten-month-old son Nolan as she arrives at the funeral ceremony for her husband, Const. Garrett Styles, the York Regional Police officer who was killed last week in the line of duty, Tuesday afternoon, July 5, 2011 at the Ray Twinney Complex in Newmarket, Ontario.

Photograph by: Aaron Lynett, National Post

NEWMARKET, Ont. — Thousands of police officers from across the continent marched in the scorching sun Tuesday as a final tribute to York Regional Police Const. Garrett Styles, who died last week in a bizarre traffic incident on Highway 48 near Toronto.

Inside the relative dark and coolness of the 3,000-seat Ray Twinney Recreation Complex, which was packed to capacity, mourners gazed upon Styles's flag-draped casket as tearful eulogies flowed.

The words delivered by his widow, Melissa Styles, were thick with emotion.

"We always told each other, 'I love you to bits and pieces,' and that has never been more true. Right now I am in pieces, but I will put myself back together for our children, because I know that is what you would want me to do," she said, speaking of the couple's two-year-old daughter, Meredith, and 10-week-old son, Nolan.

Styles spoke of her husband as a man who truly loved his job but never liked being in the limelight, and "wouldn't have wanted all this fuss." Their two children would be reminded every morning and every night how much he loved them, she said.

"I'm not sure how I will live in a world without you, but I promise I will find a way. I love you," said Styles, who is also a civilian member of the York force.

Applause at the end of her eulogy, and occasional cries from baby Nolan, punctuated the heavy silence inside the arena.

The seats were filled primarily by York and Toronto officers, but thousands more citizens and officers from across the continent — from Edmonton to New York to Halifax — gathered outside to watch the ceremony on a video screen. Close to 300 extended and immediate family members also were in attendance, a police spokesman said.

The funeral comes two days before a scheduled court appearance for the 15-year-old boy accused of murdering Styles. The teenager is accused of trying to speed away after Styles pulled him over on Highway 48; instead, the van tipped over, crushing the 32-year-old officer days before his birthday. His final plea for help was captured in a chilling 911 call made public hours after his death.

"His most heroic act was the day he embraced his profession," York police Chief Eric Jolliffe told mourners Tuesday. "Deeds speak."

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty was among the first to address the assembled, expressing his condolences to the Styles family and praising those who helped shape the young officer.

"Garrett also revealed himself to us as a man of great and good character. Not once, not twice, but three times Const. Styles communicated his concern for the occupants of the van that was lying on top of him. That is character. Good character. Strong character," McGuinty said.

Two of the slain officer's uncles also gave eulogies, including Mark Audrain, who recounted the time Styles's father — Garry Styles, who himself recently retired from the York force — visited his son at school. The elder Styles told the class that although policing was a noble profession, it often took him from his family, and he was at his son's school that day because he wanted to change that.

"Garry, you and Carole raised a son who we're all proud of," Audrain said. "Garrett became an amazing father, and he learned that from you."

York Regional Police chaplain Vicki Cousins, who spoke last, delivered a prayer and led a moment of silence. The tragedy reflects the fleeting nature of life, she said, and "how precarious is the hold we have on it."

Speaking directly to the fallen officer's family, Cousins pointed out that while Styles frequently failed to return phone calls, he returned Melissa's. Their first date included dinner at Boston Pizza, a movie and a long walk by the lake.

"Garrett will continue to be your strength," Cousins said, noting the couple's new baby, Nolan, will treasure his father's train collection when he grows older.

When the eulogies ended, officers carefully folded the flag atop Styles's casket and presented it to his widow, along with the slain officer's hat. Melissa Styles laid the items in her lap, her face crumpled in grief and her body heaving with sobs.

Earlier in the day, thousands of police took part in a sombre, three-kilometre procession from the Upper Canada Mall to the Ray Twinney complex, passing by a York Regional Police facility, where flags remained at half-mast. The strains of bagpipes mingled with the thrum of police helicopters as the sweltering sun beat down.

Police from across Canada and the United States stood alongside firefighters and paramedics, all speaking of the brotherhood that unites them when an officer falls.

"It's part of the national policing family," said Supt. Darren Eastcott of the Edmonton Police Service, commenting on what brought him across the country for the funeral of a man he never knew.

"What I remember about Garrett is always his big smile," said York Const. Mark Durrall.

For RCMP Cpl. Randy Leamen, the occasion reminded him of a time he nearly met a similarly grim fate, having been shot several times in an on-the-job altercation in 1980.

"It takes you back," Leamen said, his eyes welling with tears. "I think a lot of us have had near-death experiences in our career . . . It's very sobering, sombre."

During the procession, "everybody's sort of lost in their own thoughts," he added.

Gregory Kent, deputy sheriff from Erie County, N.Y., was in Newmarket with a colleague to pay respects.

"The death of a fellow officer crosses international lines. We're all brothers with the badge (and) most of us are family men . . . It hits home," he said.

Among the civilians who turned out were siblings Ken Sedore and Tricia Passafiume, who grew up just around the corner from where Styles was fatally injured. They brought Passafiume's two sons, aged 2 and 4, to pay their respects.

"I don't think police officers get enough recognition for what they do. Unfortunately this is the bad side of policing," Sedore said. "I think it's a good learning experience for (my nephews)."

One young woman's tears began flowing freely as she watched the procession pass by. Her husband, a York officer, was marching, she said, and the experience left her with the feeling that this could have happened to anyone.

"It's overwhelming. Intense," she said.

As the hearse passed by, officers flanking either side of Yonge and Eagle streets stood in solemn salute. The main vehicle was dubbed 1405, the badge number of Styles, in his honour.

Toronto Police Const. Jaime Knox said it felt like just yesterday police were gathering to mark an equally sombre occasion: the funeral of Sgt. Ryan Russell, the Toronto officer who died last winter after being struck by a stolen snowplow.

"It feels too close," Knox said. "It feels way too soon."

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