Rock Rapids, Iowa — A very special rolling memorial will make a stop Friday at the Lyon County Sheriff’s Office in Rock Rapids.
EOW is an acronym familiar to law enforcement, it stands for End Of Watch, and denoted the date that a law enforcement officer has died in the line of duty. The EOW Ride to Remember is comprised of several motorcycles, as well as a trailer that bears the photos and names of every law enforcement officer in the country who lost their life in the line of duty in 2019.
The ride will visit the Lyon County Sheriff’s Office in Rock Rapids Friday afternoon to honor the memory of Lyon County Sheriff’s Deputy Stephanie Schreurs who died in the line of duty last August following an on-duty traffic accident.
J.C. Shah is a retired Washington state Sheriff’s Deputy and is the Chairman of “Beyond The Call Of Duty,” the organization that operates the annual EOW Ride to Remember, and he tells us the purpose of the EOW Ride to Remember.
(As above) “What we’re doing is representing the 149 officers that died in the line of duty in 2019. So we’re going to thirty different states and ninety-nine departments, to visit the departments and the family members of those fallen officers.”
Shah says they began their ride some two months ago.
(As above) : We started June 1st and are on the road for sixty-eight total days. We’ll have (traveled) 18,000 miles when it’s said and done.”
In addition to the rolling memorial, the EOW Ride to Remember riders are bringing with them a banner for the fallen officer’s loved ones and co-workers to write whatever they like.
Shah reminds us that the 149 officers whose photos and names are on the rolling memorial didn’t get into law enforcement for the money. And none of them expected that when they left for work on their final day that they wouldn’t be coming home again. He says they did their jobs because to them it wasn’t just a job…it was a calling.
(As above) “They will protect to the end. They just give, give, give, give….and make the ultimate sacrifice for their department, for their communities, for their families. And we just can’t thank them enough.
The EOW Ride to Remember is expected to arrive at the Lyon County Sheriff’s Office by 2:45 Friday afternoon, and the public is cordially invited to attend…to view the memorial, and to remember…and honor…the life of Deputy Stephanie Schreurs.
