Cathleen Allison/Nevada Appeal
Fifteen years after his father died in the line of duty, John Willson choked back tears Thursday after the Nevada Law Enforcement Memorial ceremony, where his dad, Mineral County Sheriff's Sgt. Richard Willson, was honored by dozens of law enforcement officers from across the state.
Richard Willson was a construction worker for most his adult life. At 39 he took a job in the Mineral County Jail, said son John, who attended the event with his mother Marjorie Willson Brownie, sister-in-law Mariela Willson and four nephews.
Six years later, Sgt. Willson, 45, was a full-time patrol officer working the swing shift when he suffered a massive heart attack after a foot chase on July 25, 1994.
John and his brother Brian were 19 and 16 at the time. John now lives in Mariposa, Calif., and his brother, Pfc. Brian Willson, is a combat medic in the U.S. Army.
John said he never once wished his father hadn't become a police officer.
"I'm glad he got to do what he loved to do before he died," he said.
Between November 1861 and February 2008, 104 law
enforcement officers have died in the line of duty in Nevada. The first officer was Territorial Sheriff John L. Blackburn who died of stab wounds Nov. 18, 1861, while trying to make an arrest in Carson City.
Retired Chief of Police Mike Mayberry said he had prepared a speech in which he would herald the fact that no officers had died while on duty this year.
But early Thursday morning, while responding to a domestic battery call, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Officer James Manor, 28, was killed in a collision with a pickup driven by a suspected drunken driver.
"We actually were hoping to get through this year without losing an officer," said Mayberry to the crowd gathered on the Legislative Mall. "But unfortunately, in this business, you never know."
Gov. Jim Gibbons spokes briefly, thanking those who serve as peace officers in the state.
"I want to say on behalf of a very grateful society, we share in your loss. All of us will be forever grateful for your sacrifice," he said.
Nevada U.S. Attorney Gregory Brower said he appreciated the work of law enforcement officers.
"They are on the ground every day and every night doing the hard and often dangerous work of making our communities safe," he said. "There is nothing I have done as a U.S. attorney that is more important than being here today."
Mayberry summed up the hour-long event about 1 p.m.
"There is no greater sacrifice than to give your life for another man or woman. May those families that have lost loved ones be comforted by what we do here today," he said.