Georgianna McAteer worked to keep the memory of her husband, La Plata County Sheriff’s Sgt. Frank McAteer, alive in her daughters’ memories, after he died on the job in 1981.

“I know my dad through her stories ... We never stopped talking about him,” Georgianna McAteer’s daughter Casie McAteer said.

Her father died from a fatal heart attack after a struggle trying to subdue a suspect.

During the Law Enforcement Memorial Ceremony on Saturday at the Durango Recreation Center, community members gathered to remember McAteer and seven other local officers.

Casie McAteer attended the ceremony with her mom and sons, Luke and Julian. Even though it’s a tough day for the family, it’s important to them to attend because she doesn’t want her father or any of the other officers to be forgotten.

“I don’t ever want his name called and nobody there,” she said.

La Plata County law enforcement agencies commemorated fallen officers with a procession down Main Avenue to the Rec Center for an outdoor ceremony and a walk down the Animas River Trail to Rotary Park.

At Rotary Park, the community gathered for a barbecue that allowed officers to talk with attendees. Officers gave away 550 T-shirts at the event, Lt. Ed Aber said.

The event coincided with National Police Week, May 15-21, which recognizes law enforcement officers across the country and pays tribute to the fallen.

In 2016, 148 officers died in the line of across the country, Aber told the crowd at the ceremony.

This is a slight uptick from 2015, when 137 officers died, according to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.

So far, this year 50 officers have died on duty nationwide, Aber said.

The family or a law enforcement representative for each La Plata County officer who died on duty was recognized with a rose and cannon shots rang out over town as well.

While other communities have called for police reform, that has not been the case here, Aber said during his speech.

“Our community has stood up and thanked law enforcement time and time again,” Aber said.

The ceremony and barbecue was funded entirely by donations, he said.

Robyn Patrick said she attended the procession on Main Avenue because there is not enough support for law enforcement anymore, she said.

Patrick attended with her family because a nephew is in law enforcement and they wanted to make sure officers feel appreciated.

“All lives matter,” she said.

These are the law enforcement deaths that have happened in La Plata County since 1906:

Durango’s acting town marshal Jesse Stansel shot and killed La Plata County Sheriff William J. Thompson in a dispute stemming from the sheriff shutting down gambling halls in Durango on Jan. 9, 1906.Joseph A. Walker, an operative with the U.S. Secret Service, died Nov. 3, 1907, while investigating land fraud involving coal mines near Hesperus. He was shot in the back in a confrontation with two men.Richard C. Edstrom, a Colorado State Patrol corporal, who died Oct. 28, 1959, as the result of a gun battle in Durango with three fugitives from Aztec.Gale E. Emerson, a Durango Police Department corporal, who died Aug. 24, 1974, when a wall exploded as the result of an arson fire in the 800 block of Main Avenue.Donald R. Kartchner, a La Plata County Sheriff’s deputy, who died Oct. 13, 1972, in an automobile accident during a high-speed pursuit.Frank McAteer, a La Plata County Sheriff’s sergeant, who died July 4, 1981, from a fatal heart attack after a five- to 10-minute struggle trying to subdue a suspect.Joseph A. Ynostroza, a trooper with the Colorado State Patrol, who died Dec. 6, 1989, in a head-on collision with a semitrailer tanker east of Alamosa on U.S. Highway 160.Anthony Clyde “Tony” Archuleta, a retired sergeant with the Durango Police Department and an investigator with the Southern Ute Indian Tribe gaming division, who died June 19, 2013, from a sudden heart attack.

mshinn@durangoherald.com

Durango’s acting town marshal Jesse Stansel shot and killed La Plata County Sheriff William J. Thompson in a dispute stemming from the sheriff shutting down gambling halls in Durango on Jan. 9, 1906.Joseph A. Walker, an operative with the U.S. Secret Service, died Nov. 3, 1907, while investigating land fraud involving coal mines near Hesperus. He was shot in the back in a confrontation with two men.Richard C. Edstrom, a Colorado State Patrol corporal, who died Oct. 28, 1959, as the result of a gun battle in Durango with three fugitives from Aztec.Gale E. Emerson, a Durango Police Department corporal, who died Aug. 24, 1974, when a wall exploded as the result of an arson fire in the 800 block of Main Avenue.Donald R. Kartchner, a La Plata County Sheriff’s deputy, who died Oct. 13, 1972, in an automobile accident during a high-speed pursuit.Frank McAteer, a La Plata County Sheriff’s sergeant, who died July 4, 1981, from a fatal heart attack after a five- to 10-minute struggle trying to subdue a suspect.Joseph A. Ynostroza, a trooper with the Colorado State Patrol, who died Dec. 6, 1989, in a head-on collision with a semitrailer tanker east of Alamosa on U.S. Highway 160.Anthony Clyde “Tony” Archuleta, a retired sergeant with the Durango Police Department and an investigator with the Southern Ute Indian Tribe gaming division, who died June 19, 2013, from a sudden heart attack.