Fallen Ogden police Officer Nate Lyday’s name added to Utah Law Enforcement Memorial
Andrew Lyday, father of fallen Ogden police Officer Nate Lyday, speaks on Thursday, May 6, 2021, at the Utah Law Enforcement Memorial on the west grounds of the Utah Capitol.
Police officers begin gathering near the Utah Law Enforcement Memorial on the west grounds of the Utah Capitol on Thursday, May 6, 2021.
Attendees listen to an acoustic guitar solo on Thursday, May 6, 2021, at the Utah Law Enforcement Memorial on the west grounds of the Utah Capitol.
Fallen Officer Nate Lyday's father, Andrew Lyday, widow, Ashley Lyday, and other family members look at the Utah Law Enforcement Memorial where Nate Lyday's name was added on Thursday, May 6, 2021, on the Utah Capitol grounds. Ogden Police Chief Eric Young is in the background.
Ashley Lyday, widow of fallen Ogden police Officer Nate Lyday, looks at the plaque bearing her husband's name that she added on Thursday, May 6, 2021, to the Utah Law Enforcement Memorial on the Utah Capitol's west grounds.
SALT LAKE CITY — Andrew Lyday’s son Nate has been gone for almost a year, but the father of the fallen Ogden police officer said Thursday he sometimes still expects him to walk through the door.
“I’m so proud of Nate and his willingness to take on police work at a time when there’s so much criticism of police,” the elder Lyday said, speaking to a crowd on the warm, sunny west grounds of the Utah Capitol.
Nate Lyday’s family, friends and fellow officers gathered with police from around the state Thursday morning to add his name to the Utah Law Enforcement Memorial.
Lyday, 24, who had been on the job for less than two years, died May 26 while responding to a woman’s 911 call that her husband was beating her. The man fired through the door, striking Lyday and wounding a state probation officer who also had answered the call. Officers returned fire and the shooter later was found dead inside the home.
After remarks by Andrew Lyday and Ogden Police Chief Eric Young, Nate Lyday’s widow, Ashley, affixed her husband’s plaque to the memorial wall.
The ceremony, attended by dozens of officers in dress uniform, included an acoustic guitar solo, bagpipe music, presentation of flags by an Ogden Police Department color guard and a rifle salute.
The ceremony also honored Utah Highway Patrol trooper Franklin Schaerrer, who died in 1945 of medical complications after he tried to lift a vehicle, according to Kaysville Police Chief Sol Oberg, president of the memorial association.
Oberg, who opened the ceremony, said it’s difficult for the survivors to relive the tragedies, “but it’s important to honor these heroes.”
He said Lyday was the 147th Utah officer to die in the line of duty, and the 10th Ogden officer.
Andrew Lyday spoke of a surreal sense of time elapsed. It’s been 49 weeks since his son died, he said, “But I still expect him to come through the door and ask what’s going on, or I expect him to call.”
He said he did not know many of his son’s colleagues very well at the time, but the past year has brought a closeness between family and officers.
“It’s almost like they’re extended family,” he said.
He praised the other officers who were on the scene that day for moving to stop the gunman’s threat and trying to save his son’s life. “I will always be grateful to them,” he said.
“What it seems to all come down to is that groups of ones come together to form the whole,” he said.
Young said the loss of Lyday and other officers are “chilling examples” of risks that people in law enforcement face daily.
“Nate Lyday had love in his heart,” said Young, who was Ogden’s assistant police chief when Lyday was killed. “And hate and evil took him from us.”
But, he added, “Nate was an example of what is great in law enforcement and great in our country.”
On a personal level, Young said, “I will miss Nate, and I will miss the greatness that I know was in his future.”