WHAT: Fallen Officer Candlelight Vigil
WHEN: Thursday, May 19
TIME: 7:30 p.m. to 8:15 p.m.
WHERE: Law Enforcement Memorial in front of the Collier County Sheriff’s Office, 3319 U.S. 41 E., Bldg. J., East Naples
Saundra Batrez was 8 when her father, Collier County Sheriff’s Sgt. Roy Arthur Williams, was killed in a single-vehicle crash while investigating a report of a suspicious aircraft near Everglades City on Aug. 22, 1991.
Batrez was 14 when she penned, “My Father,” a poem in which she pays tribute to her father, who was 43 and left behind a wife and four children when he died.
Batrez, who turns 28 next month, will read her poem for the first time in public at a candlelight vigil May 19 held by CCSO to honor law enforcement officers who died in the line of duty as part of National Law Enforcement Memorial Week.
“I’ve been wanting to share my poem with the Sheriff’s Office for quite a while and I felt that this year it would be appropriate,” Batrez said, noting this year marks the 20th anniversary of her father’s death.
“It’s going to be kind of monumental for our family,” she added.
The community is invited to attend the nighttime vigil.
The vigil will include an address from Sheriff Kevin J. Rambosk, the presentation of colors by the CCSO Honor Guard, Pledge of Allegiance by Lt. Rene Gonzales, and the National Anthem by Cpl. Sylee Gibson.
The guest speaker will be Patrick O’Connor, president of the 100 Club, which helps families of officers killed in the line of duty.
While the Harp & Thistle Pipe Band plays “Amazing Grace,” family members of fallen officers will be able to light a candle and place flowers on a table in honor of their loved one.
Naples Police Chief Tom Weschler and Marco Island Police Chief Thom Carr will join Sheriff Rambosk in the lighting of the vigil candles.
Sgt. Dave Estes will sing, “I Will Not Say Goodbye.” The vigil will also feature a flyover by the CCSO Aviation Bureau and the playing of “Taps.”
The following CCSO members will never be forgotten:
In Memoriam:
Deputy W.B. Richardson
Deputy William Irwin
Deputy William E. Hutto
Deputy Maurice Eugene Anglin
Investigator Arthur Allen Amos
Cpl. Amedicus “Med’ Quincy Howell III
Cpl. Mark Caperton
Sgt. Roy Arthur Williams
Sgt. Joe Nathan Jones
Deputy Raul “Rudy” Dimas Sr.
Click here to view the public invitation to the vigil.
