Thousands of people on Tuesday came to pay their respects to our sister Jayme Biendl, a corrections officer at the Washington State Reformatory who was tragically killed by an inmate.
HeraldNet wrote a moving account of the procession and memorial service:
...at least 3,500 people attended her memorial at Comcast Arena. It was the largest public display of mourning in Everett in at least a decade.
Some streets downtown were closed. Two ladder fire trucks were parked along Hewitt Avenue near Comcast Arena, a gigantic U.S. flag draped between them.
The streets outside the arena were choked with women and men dressed in law enforcement uniforms.
They arrived on foot and in chartered buses. They filled restaurants along Hewitt. They stood in knots on the street.
Civilians gathered as well, many snapping photos of the flag that stirred over Hewitt Avenue.
An employee at Hat Trick Pizza on Hewitt pulled a step ladder outside, stood on it and pulled the flag next to the restaurant's doorway halfway down its pole — a gesture of respect.HeraldNet also wrote a wise editorial about remembering Jayme Biendl:
Jayme Biendl served with distinction as a correctional officer at the Monroe Correctional Complex. She was a courageous, dedicated public servant who was killed in the line of duty. Her memory deserves the highest honors; her family and friends deserve time to grieve.
For now, that's what matters. Recriminations and the inevitable political debate over the circumstances of Biendl's death can wait until the initial shock has subsided and she has been laid to rest.A benevolent fund has been established in her honor. Her obituary can be read here.
