GEORGETOWN, Del. - Chad Spicer of the Georgetown Police Department was killed while protecting his community on Sept. 1, 2009. The community comes together to remember and honor him every year on the anniversary of his death with a wreath-laying ceremony.
Spicer's family, friends, fellow officers, and members of the community came together Friday evening to remember him 14 years later. His mother, Ruth Ann, and daughter, Aubrey, placed a wreath on the Chad Spicer memorial monument that stands in the Georgetown Circle.
Ruth Ann Spicer, elected officials and police spoke at the ceremony, sharing stories of Chad Spicer and lessons they want the community to learn from his sacrifice.
"I don't want any family member to ever experience that because you have to change your way of living," says Ruth Ann Spicer. "That's all there is to it. Aubrey and I, we change our way of living each and every day, and we just go on and do the best we can do, but these officers need to be honored and they need to be told that thank you."
"He left us a legacy and that legacy is that we need to look back and appreciate the life that we currently have, we need to appreciate the friendships that we have, the family that we have in law enforcement," says Lt. Joel Diaz with the Georgetown Police Department. "For me, looking around and seeing all these agencies who send their officers down to be with us, it eases the pain, just a little bit."
Lt. Diaz says he hopes to see everyone at the Chad Spicer wreath-laying ceremony next year and for many years to come.
