‘A Man Remembered Never Dies’

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By BILLY TOWNSEND and RAY REYES The Tampa Tribune

Published: Oct 4, 2006

Related Links:

• ‘A Man Remembered Never Dies’
• Polk County Pauses For Deputy’s Funeral

LAKELAND – Matt Williams loved his wife. He raised three children. He built and repaired things. He planned adventures and made jokes. He laughed. He trained and guided his beloved police dogs as their friend and surrogate father. He committed his life to Jesus Christ.

Williams crammed that enormous life into just 39 years.

And on Thursday, proudly wearing the green uniform of the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, Williams died as a deputy, doing his job alongside his K-9 partner, DiOGi, who also was killed in the ambush. The suspect, Angilo Freeland, was killed Friday by police in a manhunt.

The crowd that learned about and honored Williams’ life Tuesday was enormous, filling the more than 3,000 seats at Victory Church in Lakeland and spilling outside onto the church’s grounds and overflow rooms set up nearby.

Many were law enforcement officers, more than 2,000 strong, arrayed in their dress greens, whites or navy blues, spreading blocks of formidable color throughout the sanctuary and around the Williams family, who sat in front, just feet from Williams’ closed, American flag-draped coffin.

“How many of you here have the best Matt Williams story ever?” Polk sheriff’s Detective Mike Evans asked the crowd.

A smattering of hands went up. Evans urged them to tell the stories to one another and to the officers from out of town.

“A man remembered never dies,” Evans said.

The public can sleep peacefully at night because of officers like Williams who put their lives on the line, Sheriff Grady Judd said.

“He stood between good and evil,” said Judd, who said officers often find themselves rushing into danger when others would flee.

After the service, Williams’ wife, Nancy Jean, 40, and three children, Christopher Matthew, 19, and twins Jimmy Allen and Amanda Rochelle, 16, followed the casket out. His wife was supported at both elbows by deputies.

To their right, row upon row of officers and deputies filled a field lining the entrance to the church. They saluted crisply as the coffin was carried out and loaded into a hearse for the procession to an Auburndale cemetery.

As the Williams family prepared to climb into their limousine, several of them petted Rocky, the German shepherd who had served as Williams’ partner before DiOGi.

Like everyone else, he’d come to say goodbye.

Unbroken Bonds

During the service, the family sat among a large contingent of family and friends, including the Auburndale High School girls basketball team, decked out in their blue and gold uniforms in solidarity with their teammate Amanda.

Evans, a close, longtime friend of the family, spoke on their behalf.

He described Williams as a husband and father who found joy and contentment with his family. There was nowhere he would rather be than where they were.

“A good night out is a good night in,” Evans said Williams had told him.

But that didn’t mean he was a homebody.

“He was great planner, an event planner for his family,” Evans said. “He had more ideas than Walt Disney ever had.”

And Williams had talents.

He was a master engineer who loved to tinker, Evans said. Pictures displayed before the service showed Williams proudly holding new tools during Christmas or a birthday.

“If it’s broke, he can fix it,” said Evans, who occasionally used the present tense talking about Williams. “Or if he can’t, he’ll tear it apart and leave it outside the shop.”

The laughs that line got would have pleased Williams, whom several speakers described as a jokester, even about DiOGi’s name, said Williams boss, Sgt. Jim Bryan.

“He had this new dog named DiOGi,” Bryan said. “And I asked him, ‘How do you spell that?’”

Williams’ droll reply: “D-O-G.”

Bryan shook his head to laughter from the crowd. “And I was supposed to be his supervisor?”

Working with animals was far from a joke to Williams, whom Evans called a “visionary” in his training of dogs. DiOGi was one of his greatest accomplishments.

In an experiment, Williams was given DiOGi as a puppy. He would train him side-by-side with Rocky, the aging K-9 who was his previous partner.

The three of them sometimes would pull up to scenes with DiOGi’s small, puppy head poking out of the front passenger window. Williams was the dominant force in DiOGi’s life from the time of his youth. When Rocky retired several years ago and DiOGi was ready to take his place, a lasting bond had been formed.

That bond was tested Thursday and remains unbroken, Bryan said. “DiOGi never left Matt, even in his darkest hour. He died trying to save Matt’s life.” DiOGi’s ashes were buried with Williams’ casket.

“You guys who follow the leash,” Bryan said, talking to the many K-9 handlers in the audience. “Spend an extra minute with your dog.”

Graveside At Sunset

The graveside service at Auburndale Memorial Cemetery, originally scheduled for the afternoon, became a sunset ceremony because of the thousands who gathered to pay their respects.

For more than two hours, about 1,200 police vehicles, some emblazoned with the seals of agencies as far away as California and Virginia, streamed into the cemetery about 12 miles east of Lakeland.

Eighteen police helicopters circled overhead. More than 100 K-9 officers and their dogs lined up in front of Williams’ casket. Nine horses from the Tampa and Orlando mounted patrols were in the funeral procession that wound its way to where the deputy was laid to rest.

Tampa police mounted patrol Officer Tim Pasley had the duty of grooming Mr. Bill, the riderless horse that marched in the procession. The tradition symbolizes a fallen warrior who will ride no longer.

“A tear will well up,” Pasley said as he brushed Mr. Bill’s flank and waited for the service to begin. “You just can’t help that.”

Amanda Jones and her three children shared Pasley’s emotions. She and her son, Bradley, 2, and daughters Savannah, 10, and Destiny, 7, sat cross-legged in the grass between a row of tombstones several yards from the service. Savannah and Destiny attend Kathleen Elementary School and experienced the lockdown during Thursday’s manhunt, Jones said.

Jones, 29, said she brought her children along to teach them respect for police officers and to show them that the good guys do catch the bad guys. Destiny explained her feelings in the direct manner that 7-year-olds are known for.

“We feel sad,” Destiny said. “We’re here to show respect.”

With somber silence, clusters of people surrounded Williams’ grave when the service started at nearly 7 p.m. Elderly men dressed in sharp suits and adolescent girls who were still learning to walk in heels paused at the lid that would seal the deputy’s casket. Two nameplates were fastened on the lid. The first one said, “Vernon Matt Williams, 1967-2006.” The second said, “Diogi, 2003-2006.”

“We know the job. We know the risk. We lost a good friend,” said Tampa firefighter Les Ennis. “We lost a brother.”

Ennis is a member of the Firefighters of Tampa Bay Pipes and Drums, a group that plays bagpipes at police and firefighter funerals. The bagpipers let out aching tones of “Amazing Grace” and a traditional Scottish song called “Going Home.”

Dennis Higgins, a police officer for the New York Metropolitan Transit Authority, played drums with the Tampa group. Higgins said he drove from his hometown of Massapequa, N.Y., to honor Williams. The bond shared by officers is too strong to ignore, Higgins said.

“We’re all police officers,” Higgins said. “When one goes down, we all feel the pain and suffering.”

embering the fallen:

• 10/03: Final farewell for a fallen pair
• 10/03: Raw aerials: Procession leaves church (VIDEO)
• 10/03: Sheriff Grady Judd speaks at funeral (VIDEO)
• 10/03: Raw video: ‘Amazing Grace’ and final radio call (VIDEO)
• 10/03: ‘Missing man’ helicopter flyover (VIDEO)
• 10/03: Rev. Marvin Pittman speaks at funeral (VIDEO)
• 10/03: Rev. Bill Sullivan speaks at funeral (VIDEO)
• 10/01: Little leaguers with big hearts pay tribute to fallen deputy
• 09/29: Funeral set for deputy, K-9
• 09/29: ‘He was a hero…’
• 09/28: Deputy Williams leaves wife and three children

Investigation:

• 9/29: Suspect part of drug ring?
• 9/29: Face-to-face with deputy’s killer
• 9/30: Autopsy report says deputy was shot twice at close range

Violence shocks a community:

• 9/28: Polk deputy, K-9 shot and killed
• 9/28: Injured deputy expected to recover
• 9/29: Homecoming for Kathleen, sort of