(Winnipeg Free Press)
RUSSELL, Man. (CP) -- Tears flowed Sunday as a memorial was unveiled to honour RCMP Const. Dennis Strongquill, gunned down two years ago when he happened upon a trio of young criminals from Alberta who were making their way toward the east coast in a stolen vehicle.
The ceremony, attended by about 450 people, was one of several held across Canada to commemorate all police and corrections officers who lost their lives in the line of duty.
Strongquill’s widow, Remanda Delaronde, and his partner, Const. Brian Auger, broke down as they dedicated the cairn, which features a carving of Strongquill’s face beside an inscription and the RCMP insignia.
“It is hard to describe,” Auger said softly when asked to articulate his thoughts about the occasion. “I probably couldn’t tell you.”
Delaronde said her husband would have been pleased by the event.
“He’s probably tickled pink about it,” she said, holding her youngest daughter, who was only an infant when her father was killed.
“He’s probably looking down or standing next to you saying how wonderful it is that he’s honoured.”
Strongquill, 52, was the father of six children. He was slain after making a routine traffic stop in December 2001 in which he encountered brothers Danny and Robert Sand and Robert’s girlfriend Laurie Bell.
Robert, 24, was convicted of first-degree murder while Bell, 21, was convicted of manslaughter. She is appealing her conviction; he is not.
Danny Bell was killed in a police shootout with police in Wolseley, Sask., the day after Strongquill was slain.
The final location for the cairn is still being negotiated by the RCMP and the town of Russell. It will either go where Strongquill was killed, near the Yellowhead Highway, at the town’s cenotaph or in its park.
Russell Mayor Merril Kiliwnik said the permanent reminder of Strongquill will be an important feature in the town.
“People are still going to be coming here and paying their respects,” Kiliwnik said. “That’s what we want to leave it as. It’s time to let this start going to rest, let Dennis remain in peace and let Mandy (Delaronde) and her family get on with their lives.”