"Last Ride to Remember" comes to town to honor fallen Madison County Sheriff officer Deputy Dyer

JACKSON, TENN (WNBJ)-

Today Madison County Sheriff's Department fallen officer Deputy Terry Dyer was honored as four motorcycles escorted The "Beyond the Call of Duty memorial" to the Sheriff's Department.

“We all called him Bear. You know, he's as gentle as a bear, but he loved people. And terry did so much for so many people that nobody will ever know because he never talked about it," said Madison County Sheriff John Mehr.

Deputy Terry Dyer collapsed and died suddenly in a courtroom while on duty on April 20, 2021.

Deputy Dyer had a 35-year law enforcement career, serving at the Lexington and Jackson Police Departments and the Madison County Sheriffs Department, where he spent nearly 4 years.

“We were real close. Terry was kind of my go-to person if I needed something, and because I knew it would get done…he would go he'd give to children and give to loved ones… Madison County and Jackson, everybody across the country lost a valuable person…I'm sure he's in heaven," Mehr said.

The "End of Watch Ride to Remember" began because of Jagrut Shah’s vision of honoring fallen officers after losing officers that he was close with.

The group from Spokane, Washington honors officers every year by bringing the mobile memorial to law enforcement agencies across the county.

“This year, we're honoring 608 beautiful men and women that are on our memorial going to 268 departments in 80 days and covering the little over 23,000 miles on our motorcycles… it’s a club that you don't want to be part of whether you like it or not, it's just a club. You just don't want to be in,” Shah said.

And the possibility of losing a dedicated officer is something that is always on the minds of those in law enforcement, “We wouldn't have our freedom and our what we do unless we had people that are dedicated and willing to serve and we put in put the uniform on you don't know if you're going home that afternoon. We think you are in it. You may not even make it the first hour," Mehr said.

And groups like "Beyond the Call of Duty" make sure "those who don't make it home" are given the honor and respect they deserve.

“We wanted to make sure that this department realizes that we're not going to forget this beautiful man. We're not going to allow the nation to forget this beautiful man," said Shah.