A brief memorial service remembering Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Sgt. Jeff Shaw was held  shortly after 3 p.m. today.

Almost every police agency in the county was represented for the service, as were family and friends.

“Jeffery on that day, gave the ultimate sacrifice for us,” stated Sheriff Rocky Goshert in his opening remarks. “He was more than just another officer. He was a good friend to all of us. Someone we deeply appreciated.” To the family present, his wife and children, father, brothers, aunt and cousin, Goshert stated, “Be proud of him, of what he did and what he stood for.”

Angie Shaw read a poem she wrote about the things she never had the opportunity to do that day, including tell her husband she loved him. The poem also reflected on what she has been missing.

She recounted that day, five years ago. Wiping away the tears, she recalled how she became a single mother of their two young children in a blink of an eye. She recalled county officer Shane Bucher and state trooper Kyle Dukes telling her, her husband had been in an accident. “I thought he had just suffered a few broken bones.”

Isabella was in first grade and 7 years old and Nick was in fourth grade and 9 at the time of their father’s death. Today they are in sixth grade and 12 years of age, and ninth grade and 14. She stated how Nick is a spitting image of his father and just like his father, knows what buttons to push with her. She related other similarities between the father and son.

Pastor Denny Wilson, Warsaw Community Church, read a brief scripture, noting life has its unexpected call that we hope we never get, words we hope we never hear and the losses we fear we can’t endure. “There is hope beyond this life . hold on to this hope when there is nothing else to hold on.”

Goshert closed the ceremony by briefly asking the officers to remember, “Tomorrow you can’t count on. Make sure to tell your wife, kids, you love them each and every day before you leave and when you get home. One day, you will wish you would have.”

Shaw died in the line of duty from injuries received in a motor vehicle accident around 3 p.m. Nov. 12, 2009. He was responding to a call in the area of SR 14 and CR 100E when the driver of an eastbound truck lost control, crossed the center line, hitting Shaw’s squad car. Both vehicles became engulfed in fire. Shaw was killed upon impact.

Shaw began his career as a reserve deputy, a jailer,  and was appointed as a road deputy on Jan. 1, 1998, promoted to corporal, then sergeant supervising the second shift road division.

A plaque, hanging inside the sheriff’s department, states, “Shaw will always be remembered for his devoted service and brotherhood to the sheriff’s department, but he will be most remembered for his gentle demeanor and his undying love for his wife and children.”

Those attending the memorial service