SOLEMN HONORS
PBSO commemorates 16 lost in line of duty
WEST PALM BEACH — With a synchronized tapping of footsteps, Palm Beach County Sheriff ’s Office deputies marched in their dress uniforms down a cobblestone path toward the memorial wall of their fallen brothers and sisters.
The somber sound of bagpipes and heavy beating of drums grabbed the attention of the crowd of 60, who gathered Thursday to honor 16 men and women who have died in the line of duty in the history of the department.
In the front of the memorial stood two green tables — surrounded by white flowers — with a portrait of each fallen hero, the oldest dating to 1921.
Each of their names was plated in gold, and their faces showed warm smiles. A deputy stood at each end of the tables, their faces still and solemn while giving a salute.
The crowd placed hands over their hearts, the national anthem was sung and the honor guard lowered the American flag while the bagpipes played “Amazing Grace.”
“These 16 men and women embody these attributes: courage, strength and dedication,” Maj. Ronald Mattino said at the office’s annual Fallen Deputy Memorial ceremony. “May God bless the memory of the loved ones here that remain in our hearts today and forever.”
Chaplain John Pope softly recited a prayer while the crowd bowed their heads. The patrol vehicles and motorcycles that surrounded the memorial site created a bright flashing of blue and red lights.
Then came the roll call of the fallen deputies.
As each name was called, the crowd — comprised of family members and deputies — observed a moment of silence as a deputy slowly walked to each picture, gently placed a white rose and gave a heavy salute.
Then rifle shots — three each — pierced the silence. A trumpet played taps, and the sweeping sound of two helicopters could be heard above.
Breaking another moment of
silence, pipers played “To the Colors” while the honor guard raised the flag, with the crowd watching honorably.
The crowd then looked up and watched a flock of white doves fly across the table of photos and up into the sky. The marching of footsteps and the sound of drums started up again, this time leaving the memorial.
Two daughters of a fallen deputy, Amy and Morgan Schavolt, attend the ceremony every year for their father, Donald Schavolt, who died in 2002.
Amy said their father died when she was 9 years old, and her sister 4 years old, on Easter Sunday from a heart attack.
“He was struggling with a juvenile that had been under the influence and he was kicked in the chest,” Schavolt said. “At the time, we did not know that he had heart disease and it triggered his heart attack.”
Donald Schavolt, who lived in Royal Palm Beach with his family, served with PBSO for 13 years, Schavolt said.
“We haven’t missed one ceremony,” Amy Schavolt
said, “and we never will.”