Deputy honored in hero’s farewell
Friends, family gather to remember Diaz, known as doting father, dutiful protector
Omar Diaz loved sheriff’s office blue.
He was buried Thursday in a uniform of that dark blue color, after a memorial service where fellow law enforcement officers and family members mourned the loving husband, dedicated lawman and devoted father.
“His dream was to become a cop,” his 7-year-old daughter, Zivah, said in a letter read by another deputy at the service. “He was the best one yet.”
Diaz died on Saturday after collapsing while working a stabbing scene in northwest Harris County. He fell unconscious as he set out crime scene tape in the 7500 block of Stone Pine Lane, authorities said. He became alert but fell out of consciousness again on the way to the hospital, where he could not be revived, Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said after his death.
The deputy suffered from a pulmonary embolism, the result of deep vein thrombosis, according to the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences, which determined he died of natural causes.
At Champion Forest Baptist Church in Jersey Village on ThursDeputy
“He fought for what he knew to be right. He believed in protecting others, and those who are called to protect others are a special breed.”
Sheriff Ed Gonzalez, on deputy Omar Diaz, who died on duty
day, Gonzalez delivered a eulogy for Diaz, whom he described as a deputy who did not seek recognition but still made a “profound difference.”
The 39-year-old began his career at the sheriff’s office in 2009 as a detention officer, and was most recently assigned to patrol in the Crossroads Park subdivision last year after graduating from the sheriff ’s office’s basic peace officer’s course.
“He ran a good race,” Gonzalez said. “He fought for what he knew to be right. He believed in protecting others, and those who are called to protect others are a special breed.”
Diaz received a hero’s farewell. His blue casket was draped in an American flag, an Honor Guard quartet sang “Amazing Grace,” and later, seven guards sent the deputy off with a three-volley salute.
In several parts of the service, a slideshow displayed pictures of Diaz smiling with his wife, Rosie, and holding hands with his daughter.
Diaz was a family man, and Zivah was his world, his colleagues said. Jasmine Ferguson, who graduated in the same cadet class, said Diaz would often rush home after work for tea parties with Zivah.
“Diaz didn’t talk much, but one thing I can say he was never quiet about was this little princess, his daughter,” she said.
He said “The Lord’s Prayer” with Zivah every night, Lt. Shannon Bowdoin said. And on Valentine’s Day this year, he bought his daughter flowers, according to one of Zivah’s journal entries, which was also read on Thursday.
Roy Moore, a family friend, said Diaz was a protector.
“How do you talk about a man like Omar? Short, sweet and to the point,” Moore said. “Omar Diaz: husband, father, son, guardian.”