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Several thousand law enforcement
officers from around the state gathered Wednesday to hear Mahnomen
County Deputy Christopher Dewey eulogized as a hero.


      Dewey, 27, was shot in the head and stomach in
February 2009 while checking out a report of shots fired in a
Mahnomen neighborhood. He never fully recovered and died last week.

      "After the shooting, people called Chris a hero, but I think he
always has been," his sister-in-law, Hannah Bergman, said during
the service at Living Word Christian Center in Brooklyn Park.
"Chris showed me that every day is an opportunity to serve
others."


      Dozens and dozens of squad cars began pulling up outside the
church about an hour before the funeral. Officers and deputies in
various law enforcement uniforms were in the driver's seats.


      Dewey's family entered the church followed by his Mahnomen
County colleagues, who had their shifts covered by deputies from
other agencies so they could attend the service. Gov. Tim Pawlenty
and state Attorney General Lori Swanson also were at the funeral.


      A silver urn holding Dewey's ashes sat at the front of the
sanctuary next to a photo of him in uniform.


      Dewey was a star football player who helped win the class 4A
title at Cambridge-Isanti High School his senior year, and he
continued to play football during his time at the Law Enforcement
Training Program in Hibbing.


      He was hired as a sheriff's deputy in Mahnomen County in 2004.
He and his wife, Emily, married in 2007, and he was looking forward
to starting a family with her, according to the funeral program.

      Tears flowed freely during the service. Deputy Chad Peterson
said his partner, Dewey, would have urged his loved ones to "be
joyous."


      "His whole life was a celebration," Peterson said.


      After the funeral, a procession led by police vehicles headed to
Crystal Lake Cemetery in Minneapolis where Dewey's ashes were
interred.


      Thomas Lee Fairbanks of Anoka is facing murder charges in
Dewey's death. A co-defendant in the shooting, Daniel Kurt Vernier,
pleaded guilty to failing to render assistance to the deputy and
was sentenced last September to two years in prison.
      

Gallery

Up to 2,000 officers expected at deputy's funeral

Shooter of Mahnomen deputy now charged with murder

Mahnomen deputy wounded while on duty dies

Thousands of law enforcement officers from around the state gathered at a church in Brooklyn Park Wednesday to hear Mahnomen County Deputy Christopher Dewey eulogized as a hero.

Mahnomen deputy Chris Dewey hailed as hero during funeral

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