Ride to Remember honors Windsor police officer who died from COVID-19
Flashing red and blue lights from police cars reflected against the wet roads on Monday afternoon as motorcycles roared behind them through Windsor, all leading the way for a trailer donning the faces of 608 law enforcement officers who died last year.
Windsor police officer Ty Powell’s photo was among them.
Powell died of COVID-19 on Oct. 13. He is survived by his wife, Dawn Powell, and their five children.
“It means a lot that we’re all here to remember Ty,” Windsor Mayor Paul Rennemeyer said Monday. “He was a very special member of our police force for almost 20 years.”
As a lover of Harley-Davidson motorcycles, Powell would have loved Monday’s ride, Windsor Police Chief Rick Klimek said. Powell and his wife would go on road trips on their motorcycles, he said, and Powell had just purchased a new motorcycle before he got sick.
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Monday’s event was part of the national Ride to Remember by the organization Beyond the Call of Duty. Every year, the group of motorcyclists escorts a trailer across the country to honor law enforcement officers who died in the previous year.
“We do this for two main reasons: One is to let the families know their loved ones will not be forgotten,” said Jagrut Shah, founder of Beyond the Call of Duty. “The second is to let the departments know that what you’re going through, everyone in the nation is going through, and more so that your loved one is being talked about across the nation. Not just within the city or the county or state.”
Last year, the group honored 339 officers who died in 2020. In 2021, the number of officers recognized by the group almost doubled, and for the first time in several years it included a Northern Colorado police officer.
According to a report issued by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, line of duty deaths went up 55% in 2021, largely due to COVID-19.
Powell’s family and other community members welcomed the convoy at the Windsor Police Department just before 4 p.m. Monday. Powell’s wife was given a blue flower to place next to her husband’s photo on the trailer, and Beyond the Call of Duty group members joined the family in a prayer.
Powell worked at the Windsor Police Department for 19 years and previously spent one year each at the Mesa County Sheriff’s Office and Jackson County Sheriff’s Office.
“He was a great guy, he was a perfect guy to work with,” Klimek said. “As a team member, he was always willing to help.”
Powell once responded to a medical call where a young man had saved his father’s life, and Powell went out of his way to get the young man tickets to a wrestling event he wanted to go to but couldn’t afford, Klimek said.
“He didn’t have to do that. He went out of his way to do that,” Klimek said. “That’s just one of the many things that Ty would do on a regular basis, just like all the other men and women who work for our department.”
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Klimek said Powell was a positive person with “a good laugh and a good attitude towards life.” He was a big man, “but once you got to know him he was just a big teddy bear.”
During Monday's reception, the department also retired Powell’s badge number.
“I couldn’t image listening to anybody else answer to 958 on the radio,” Klimek said. “There was only one and only ‘Ty Powell 958.’ “
This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Ride to Remember honors Colorado police officer who died from COVID-19
