INDIANAPOLIS — Memorials for fallen Marion County Deputy John Durm are growing.
Durm's friends and colleagues are remembering him as "amazing and selfless."
Soon, Durm will be escorted to Crown Hill Cemetery. Memorial services haven't been formalized yet, but Crown Hill has spent two decades honoring heroes of public safety as loved ones prepare to pay their final respects.
"We are there to serve and just do whatever they need when that time comes," said David Rieck, president of Crown Hill Cemetery and Crown Hill Heritage Foundation.
Tucked inside Crown Hill Cemetery sits the Heroes of Public Safety, a 1 1/2-acre section dedicated to fallen officers. Rieck said plans for a memorial were initially created in response to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Then, just a few days later, when Marion County Sheriff's Deputy Jason Baker was shot and killed, plans to create a lasting memorial for the men and women killed in the line of duty moved ahead.
"You know, the community really rallied around, obviously, Sept. 11, and then, the tragic death of Jason Baker. His dad was very instrumental in getting this monument up and dedicated in Crown Hill," Rieck said.
And what they created at Crown Hill is unique, according to Rieck.
"At the time when we established it, from what we could tell, Crown Hill was the only cemetery that had a section solely dedicated to public safety officers," Rieck said.
Memorials to fallen officers and law enforcement loom large over the quiet green space. In the past year, new additions have sadly needed to be made, with markers for Officers Noah Shahnavaz and Seara Burton put in place.
Just last week, Indiana State Police Trooper Aaron Smith was laid to rest next to his fellow heroes.
"In one word, it's humbling," Rieck said. "It means everything to us."
Rieck said these tragedies are becoming all too common, but when they do, he said Crown Hill is proud to serve those brave men and women who served us all to the end.
"It is an honor and a privilege to be able to work with those, to help them really start the grieving process and provide them a space and an opportunity to bury their loved one in a dignified, honored kind of way," Rieck said.
Wednesday morning, a Marion County Sheriff's Office honor guard and police escort will bring Durm's body to Crown Hill. The sheriff's office will stand watch over Durm until he is laid to rest.
Visitation and funeral arrangements for Durm are expected to be finalized soon. A police department spokesperson has said Durm will receive all the honors befitting a fallen hero.