by Peter Bodley
Managing editor
ABC Newspapers

More than 1,000 law enforcement officers from the state of Minnesota and beyond came to honor one of their own Monday.

Together with family and friends they filled the Church of Epiphany, Coon Rapids, to overflowing for the memorial service for slain Lino Lakes Police Officer Shawn Silvera.

There was standing-room only in the 3,000-seat sanctuary and before and after the service, law enforcement personnel lined up, several rows deep, to pay their last respects to a fallen officer.

Silvera, 32, was run down and killed Sept. 6 by a fugitive from South Dakota after placing stop sticks on I-35W in an effort to stop the man, who was driving a stolen vehicle and being pursued by police.

Suspect charged

The suspect, Steven Stanek, 26, has been charged in Anoka County District Court with three felonies, including second-degree murder (see separate story).

Silvera grew up in Coon Rapids, graduated from Coon Rapids High School and began his law enforcement career as a community service officer with the Coon Rapids Police Department from 1992-96 before becoming a part-time police officer in Forest Lake for a year. He joined the Lino Lakes Police Department in 1997.

A motorcade escorted Silvera and his family to Epiphany from the Roberts Eckert Funeral Home in Forest Lake (the Silveras lived in Forest Lake).

The procession included the Lino Lake Police Department, one representative patrol car from each Anoka County law enforcement agency and select patrol cars and emergency vehicles at the invitation of the Lino Lakes department.

They were escorted by some 40 police motorcycles from the St. Paul Police and other agencies.

Speakers at the four-hour memorial service, which was followed by interment in Epiphany Cemetery, included Silvera¹s wife, Jennifer (Vander Poel), who also graduated from Coon Rapids High School, brother Mark Silvera, Gov. Tim Pawlenty and Lino Lakes Police Chief Dave Pecchia.

2 priests who knew him well

But it was two former Epiphany priests who knew Silvera well from his years growing up in Coon Rapids who delivered the eulogy and homily - Revs. Thomas Wilson and Bernard Reiser, respectively.

Wilson, a priest at Epiphany from 1996-2001, who presided at the Silvera¹s wedding, gave the eulogy.

³Shawn was a very devoted man and husband who went about doing his duty in a very quiet, humble way,² Wilson said.

Wilson recalled an incident when he and others were invited to the Silvera home for dinner.

³It was the fanciest table and in my male shortsightedness, I assumed it was all Jennifer,² he said.

But while it may have been Jennifer¹s inspiration, Wilson said it was Silvera who had put the whole table together.

³Shawn told me he was just doing his job and what he was told,² Wilson said.

But that incident also demonstrated Silvera¹s artistic talents, he said.

³Shawn did so many things well,² Wilson said. ³He was so talented and gifted and gave of himself so freely to his family and to others.²

³He was a great example of love expressed that expands and does not contract.²

Reiser, founding priest at Epiphany and now pastor emeritus at the church, gave the homily.

Fulfilling a vocation

³Shawn died doing his duty, fulfilling his vocation in life as a police officer,² Reiser said. ³He loved police work; he cherished it.²

³His family said Shawn never complained about going to work. He saw it as an opportunity to serve others.²

Reiser said it was appropriate that the Gospel read at the service was about the good shepherd; that was what Silvera was, he said.

As part of his police work, Silvera taught the DARE program in an effort to prevent children from getting involved in drugs.

But Reiser said Silvera did more than just teach the children, he developed a relationship with them. He ate lunch with them and did activities with them.

Silvera also worked with the Lino Lakes Police Explorer Post to introduce high school students to law enforcement. Silvera got his introduction to police work as a member of the Coon Rapids Police Explorer Post while still in high school.

³He shared his dedication and excitement of police work with others,² Reiser said.

2 years in Honduras

And Silvera and his wife Jennifer spent two years in the Peace Corps in Honduras, which Reiser said was the second poorest nation in the western hemisphere, where they lived with the natives and worked in an orphanage, among other things.

To come from an affluent society and go and live and work with the poor and needy is truly being a good shepherd, Reiser said.

Reiser was privileged to be part of the wedding service of Silvera and Jennifer, he said.

They have had a ³great love,² Reiser said.

Silvera continued to give his wife flowers every month to mark their wedding anniversary, not just on special occasions, and Jennifer wrote him little notes every day that he posted in his locker at work, according to Reiser.

³They had their act together,² Reiser said.

³Shawn gave so much of himself to others, but it always started with his family.²

Reiser urged mourners to follow Silvera¹s example. ³Do your duty daily,² Reiser said.

It will make the country and world a better place to live, he said.

In addition to the memorial service Monday, there was a wake at Epiphany Sunday.

Rev. John Vander Ploeg, priest at Church of St. Paul, Ham Lake, which the Silvera family joined in late 2004, spoke at the wake.

Silvera¹s gifts

Vander Ploeg spoke of Silvera¹s different gifts.

³Shawn liked to learn and dive into things,² Vander Ploeg said.

³He loved music and was self-taught on the piano, guitar and harmonica.²

Silvera was also involved in photography and took photos which he posted on a Web site journal of the two years in the Peace Corps that he had his wife spent, Vander Ploeg said.

³Shawn was faithful in his service to the community and the poor,² he said. ³He was fluent in Spanish and a very generous person.²

³His goodness was the real strength of his life and everything he did.²

Vander Ploeg said Silvera¹s death was a real loss. ³Shawn is not replaceable and has left a real hole,² he said.

Silvera was truly a good shepherd, Vander Ploeg said.

Peter Bodley is at peter.bodley@ecm-inc.com

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