OPP Const. Vu Pham remembered at his funeral as modern day hero

WINGHAM, Ont. -- An Ontario Provincial Police officer who died in the line of duty was remembered as a modern day hero who courageously put himself in harm's way to honour his oath of duty at his funeral, Friday afternoon.

Thousands of police officers from across Canada and the U.S., as well as politicians including Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty, attended the funeral service for Const. Vu Pham in Wingham, Ont.

OPP Commissioner Julian Fantino told Pham's widow Heather, their three sons and the other mourners that he didn't know Pham personally.

But he said the constable was an "excellent officer and a very good man who deeply loved his chosen profession, accepted the risks and in the end, made the ultimate sacrifice."

McGuinty said Pham was respected by his colleagues and a "pillar of a close-knit community."

Pham was shot Monday after pulling over a pickup truck on a rural road northwest of London, Ont., and died several hours later.

"Provincial Const. Vu Pham you can stand down, you have done your duty, you have made us all proud. And although we move on we will not forget you. Rest in peace," said Fantino.

In the funeral program, Pham's wife said her husband was the love of her life.

Heather wrote in the statement that when her husband left for work on Monday morning and said goodbye little did she know that would be their final goodbye. Pham is father to sons Tyler, 12, Jordan, 10, and Joshua, 7.

"Words alone can't express the whirlwind the past few days have been for me, my sons and our immediate family," Heather wrote in the funeral program.

"I know and feel in my heart that Pham is watching over all of us and will be with us until we meet again in heaven."

The strong support of police gathered at the funeral "will help us to heal over the hours, days and months ahead that we have to endure," she added.

Fred Preston, who was charged with first-degree murder in Pham's death, died in a London hospital Thursday.

Preston, a former reeve of Joly township in northern Ontario, had been in critical condition in hospital since Monday. But on Thursday night the 70-year-old was taken off life-support, said a family member who did not want to be identified.

The province's Special Investigations Unit confirmed the death.

Pham, originally from Vietnam, was taken in as a boy by Dan Thompson, a southwestern Ontario pastor who later moved to northern Ontario, where Pham and his three new siblings were raised.

Pham was the force's 104th officer killed in the line of duty since its inception 100 years ago.