Family, Friends & Fellow Officers Remember...

God bless your family and children. Rest in peace brother, we will continue to do the job you started.

Deputy Sheriff 6712
Polk County Sheriff's Office, Florida

July 21, 2008

My family and our prayers are with you and your family in their time of grief. The pain is felt nationwide when a brother in civil service goes down. No words can explain how I feel, but I feel the pain your family is going through with their loss. You may be gone, but Widman, you are not forgotten. My family loves you.

Cpl Joe St Clair
Bellefontaine Neighbors, Mo PD

July 21, 2008

Your watch here is done, Godspeed on your journey to the next assignment.

Our prayers are with your Family and Friends.

Deputy
Marion County Sheriff's Dept. (IN)

July 21, 2008

Sending my deepest prayers and symapthy to your family, friends, and entire department. May God comfort your loved ones. I know that Angels carried you high into the heavens above, where you lay peacefully in Gods loving arms. Peace be with you, & God Bless!

Dispatcher Sara Singleton
Howard County Maryland Communications 911 Center

July 21, 2008

News of what happened hit hard here in Toledo. Your dedication to the job and the Lord are truly inspiring. Your Brothers and Sisters in Toledo are praying for you. God bless you and your family.

Sgt.
Toledo Police Department

July 21, 2008

Thank you for your service and sacrifice. You are a hero and will not be forgotten.

Police Officer
Fairfax City (VA) Police Dept.

July 21, 2008

I just wanted to say that it is trully amazing to see the outpouring of support from the community as well as the country. It will never be easy letting our officers leave the house to go out to try and make the dangerous streets a safer place, but it sure makes me proud to know how many brothers and sisters will be out there helping and supporting them. Andy - know that your family will NEVER be alone. "We can't all be the heroes, there needs to be someone who can sit on the curb and wave as they go by." To the officers who will keep Andy's dreams and goals going.... know that we are all on that curb waving.

Anonymous

July 21, 2008

May the Lord give your family and loved ones the strength to make it through this difficult time. Rest in peace. God bless.

AS #6195
USPIS

July 21, 2008

OFFICER WIDMAN THANK YOU FOR THE ULTIMATE SACRIFICE AND THANK YOU FOR KEEPING MY FAMILY AND MANY OTHER FAMILIES SAFE WHILE WE ARE DEPLOYED OVER SEAS HELPING KEEP THOSE SAFE WHO KEEP US SAFE THANK YOU OFFICER WIDMAN

LT.COL RAGUSA
UNITED STATES ARMY

July 21, 2008

I had the pleasure of being Andy's Field Training Officer for his final phase. Having Andy beside me everyday was an experience I will never forget. He was the most caring and compassionate person I have ever met. Andy embodied everything a good Police Officer should have and what we in Law Enforcement should all strive to achieve. I believe he taught me more than I taught him. He was a Police Officer beyond his years. He was also the most loving husband and devoted Father. We had many conversations about our kids and wives. Andy couldn't wait to be with his family. They were always his priority.
I was with Andy on the night he died. It was the most painful thing I have ever been through, but I'm glad I could be by his side. I will leave Andy (for the time being) with a favorite quote of mine "For he who sheds his blood with me, shall be my Brother". Love you "Preacher". I will see you again.

Ptl. Albert R. Antonini #328
FMPD/F.T.O

July 21, 2008

RIP Brother in Blue.

Our thoughts and prayers go to you, family, and officers with FMPD.

OFFICER
TALLAHASSEE PD

July 21, 2008

Ofc Widman,
You have given the ultimate sacifice and for this you'll never be forgotten. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his brother. Rest in peace brother, we've got it from here.

10-42 eternally

Sergeant Joshua MacDonald
Kwajalein Police Department, Marshall Islands

July 21, 2008

My thoughts and prayers go out to the family. You gave the ultimate sacrifice to protect others, and that sacrifice will never be forgotten.

Shanna
Tulare County District Attorney and wife of a police officer

July 21, 2008

My family has over 5 generations of Law Enforcement in Fort Myers and the senseless act that took Officer Andrew Widman's truly saddens me. Though we all strive for the same cause in our area, I did not know personally know Officer Andrew Widman. But from the reflections that his family and co workers have voiced there is but one thing I feel in my heart. That on that fatefull morning he would not have traded places with anyone else on duty, even though it meant leaving his wife and children. Being the Christian that he was, he knew, he himself would be taken into God's arms and his family would be taken care of. With God in his heart, a bible in one hand and a sword in the other he served here on earth and surely will be an angel with St. Michael to watch over us here. May God Bless and continue to comfort Officer Andrew Widman's family.

Civillian Barbara Harrison
Lee County Sheriff's Office

July 21, 2008

My thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends of officer Widman. I have lost brothers in the service and know what a loss the brothers and sisters in the department is feeling. Thanks for giving the ultimate officer Widman you will not be forgotten.

FIREFIGHTER THOMAS PORTER
KENDUSKEAG FIRE RESCUE KENDUSKEAG MAINE

July 21, 2008

It's not how they died but how they lived....
In his 30 years, Widman earned a master’s of theology degree, pastored college-age adults at a church in Toledo, Ohio, and had been on mission trips to violence-torn Myanmar, once known as Burma. The Widmans arrived in Southwest Florida in 2005 and he went to work as a construction technician with the Jezreel Company in Cape Coral.
Widman came in for good-natured kidding from fellow officers on the 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. shift who gave him the nicknames “Preacher” and “Rev,” Baker said.
“I’d never met anyone who had a master’s degree in theology. He took it well,” said Officer Brian O’Reilly, who remembered when Widman first entered the police academy.
“It was his true calling to help other people. He always saw the good in people and that is sometimes difficult in our profession,” O’Reilly said.
Widman, said O’Reilly, told him about his trips to Burma, where he ministered within earshot of gunfire and explosions.
O’Reilly said Widman joined the police department to better support his family and still serve people.
“He was the most polite, good-natured police officer I ever met,” O’Reilly said. “He would always treat people with the utmost respect.”
And Widman always brightened everybody’s day.
“He was jovial, easygoing,” O’Reilly said.
But Widman also was driven.
He was qualified in the use of handguns, shotguns and Tasers.
“He strove for excellence. He did everything to the best of his ability,” O’Reilly said.
Indeed, “this young man had incredible potential. He was a gifted speaker,” said Pastor Douglas Rumschlag, of Grace Church in Toledo, where Widman ministered to college-age adults from 2004 to 2005.
Widman grew up in the Toledo area, graduating from Toledo Christian Schools before earning a bachelor’s in biblical languages from Toccoa Falls College in Georgia and a master’s in divinity and world religions from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in Massachusetts.
He taught an introductory missions course at Michigan Theological Seminary before becoming a minister at Grace Church.
The congregation there, Rumschlag said, is devastated.
“It’s a great loss,” Rumschlag said. “He will be greatly missed. There was an incredible amount of respect for him.”
Widman, Rumschlag said, “had a pastor’s heart. He cared for his flock. He impacted many lives.”

Anonymous

July 21, 2008

REST IN PEACE BROTHER>YOU ARE A TRUE HERO

Major Larry C. Miller
Lee Co. SO retired

July 21, 2008

My prayers are with your family during this very sad time. I too lost my brother last year he had two young children, and wife. My family attended the national police week this year and am glad we did. There are many others that have lost a love one due to the evil on this earth. May you have the strength to move ahead in Andrew's memory. The next few months are going to extremely sad and empty as you have lost a huge part of your life. I am crying with you and pray that you must be very proud of how he lived his life. It is an honor to have a love one that takes the ultimate sacrifice to serve and protect. God be with you,

Tracy Winder (sister of Deputy Michael Page EOW 6/30/2007 Texas)

Anonymous

July 21, 2008

To Officer Widman's wife and children:

While it goes without saying that your husband and father
sacrificed in the line of duty, it is not often shared
how very much all of you have sacrificed. Thanking you
for that terrible sacrifice seems rather shallow. I can
only imagine all of the thoughts, heartaches and fears that
are with you daily. I wish I had the words that
would ease that ache. But words are inadequate in grief.

While nothing can bring Andrew back to you, and having lost
a child myself I do know we spend our lives longing to have them back. Asking why? Why my husband? Why my daddy? Why my son? My brother? That is the horrible journey of grief.

But there are two things you can count on. Two guarantees.
One, and the one that brings the most comfort is the guarantee that you will see your loved one again. While it
is difficult to get through dark days hold to this thought.

What the caterpillar believes is the end of life, the
butterfly knows is the beginning. Tell the children daddy
is no further than their hearts. Know that as others are,
I too mourn with you. I cry with you and ask why with you. Most
important I am praying with you that the triumph beneath
this tragedy is revealed to you and brings comfort in this journey.

To Officer Widman's fellow officers. Your grief is great,
Your questions, why? "Could I have done something to change this", are a part of your journey. The triumph under this tragedy will be revealed. Your task right now is difficult.
You MUST make sure you do not harbor bitterness, that is so
easy to feel when a good man is murdered senselessly. You must be open to the compassion that grief can bring if our hearts are not hardened. You must be mindful of Andrew's example and emulate that in the
most difficult times. You must be vigilant out there so that
you go home at each shifts end, to your family.

Often it is said that Officer's who join St. Michael's
patrol will keep watch on the streets of gold in heaven.
There is no need for patrolling God's Kingdom. It is the
place of peace, kindness and harmony. St. Michael recruits
his force to do battle on earth, if not patrons of heaven
would not need wings.
Officer Andrew Widman, has been recruited to St. Michael's
warriors to intercede on your behalf. To serve and protect on the same streets he patrolled with you. When you need him
he will be there. When he is you will know.

mother of a Police Officer
Mother of a Police Officer

July 21, 2008

Officer Widman is a true hero giving his life for another. We salute officer Widman (Andy) and hope that he watches over the rest of his brothers and sisters that put on the uniform every day to continue the good work that he started.

To Andy's familey, our thoughts and prayers are and will always be with you and any support that we can provide to you. You and your family are now part of our law enforcement family. May God bless you and your family in your time of need.

May God Bless all of my brothers and sisters to carry on where Andy left off.

Tony, Karyn and Matthew Pribble.

Master Police Officer Tony Pribble
Punta Gorda Police

July 21, 2008

Brother Widman,
Thank you for everything you have done to make this a safer place to live together. My prayers are with the family and always remember that daddy is just a prayer away.

Sgt. Walter Hughes, Retired
MNPD - Nashville, Tennessee

July 21, 2008

My thoughts and prayers to the family, friends and co-workers of Officer Widman. Another Hero taken too soon. May God comfort you and your Family.
You will never be forgotten. God speed and God bless. Rest in peace Sir.

VIPS Jeff Claybern
Alexandria Kentucky Police Department

July 21, 2008

God Bless you Brother, RIP

Deputy D. Young
Trumbull County Sheriff's Office, Warren, Ohio

July 21, 2008

Rest in peace brother, your sacrifice will never be forgotten....

Detective Edward Carlile
Northfield PD (OH)

July 21, 2008

Today we lost a hero, this day God welcomed home.

Patrolman Dwayne Delcour
Mansfield Police Mansfield, Mo

July 21, 2008