While bikers are not generally known for reverence, heartfelt respect and gratitude filled the state Capitol grounds Sunday as motorcycle riders teamed with law enforcement to honor officers cut down in the line of duty.
Since 1853, 127 Utah police officers have died due to on-the-job injuries. The first was 30-year-old Salt Lake Deputy Rodney Badger who drowned in the Weber River while trying to rescue an immigrant family.
The last, so far, was North Salt Lake Police officer Charlie Skinner, who was also 30 when he died last November after his patrol car crashed on slick pavement during hot pursuit of a car thief.
"It meant a lot to me to have the whole team ride for Charlie," said his wife, Katie Skinner, who is now raising their 10-month-old twins, born a few weeks before her husband's untimely death.
She joined a crowd of more than 2,000 gathered at the Fallen Officers Memorial on the Capitol's west side, graced by a statue of Badger and a wall full of bronze plaques, each bearing an officer's name.
"I'm so glad we have this memorial," Skinner said. "At some point, I will have to tell them who their daddy was. It brings some solace that he was a hero and this memorial honors that."
Sunday's was the third annual Fallen Officers ride to raise funds for the memorial and families left behind.
More than 3,000 riders made the 75-minute trip from Lindon to the Capitol, estimated Dave Tuomisto, owner of Timpanogos Harley Davidson and one of the event's chief organizers.
At last count, the charity event had raised more than $75,000 this year, Tuomisto said. Those dollars feed an endowment for scholarships and other needs of the families of the deceased.
A day before leaving for China to begin his role as U.S. ambassador, former Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. on Sunday donned denim and leather to ride up Interstate 15 and Salt Lake City's State Street.
"Riders and law enforcement came together to make this possible," Huntsman said of the fitting memorial that includes the name of one of his relatives, Salt Lake City police Officer William Huntsman, who died in a Main Street gunfight in 1924.
"Without you," Huntsman told the crowd, "we wouldn't be celebrating this remarkable tribute to those who have given all."
Attorney General Mark Shurtleff, who badly injured his leg preparing for the ride two years ago, drove Tuomisto's 1969 Camaro Convertible from Lindon this year.
"Two years ago, Dave lent me his Harley and I broke it," Shurtleff quipped. "Last year they put me in a Hummer so I couldn't get hurt."
Next year, Shurtleff plans to arrive on two wheels -- after taking the state's motorcycle safety course.
Pleasant Grove residents Joe and Carolyn "Stitch" Owens participated in Sunday's ride and memorial -- Carolyn riding solo for the first time. Joe's high school friend, Dave Jones, is memorialized on the wall.
"What matters is that they not be forgotten," Carolyn Owens said. "They still have families around."
