Kelsey Young held onto her mother’s arms without shedding a tear, keeping her gaze on the police officers in line to honor her father at the place where he was killed a year ago Monday.
Six-year-old Kelsey, her blond hair pulled in a pony tail, listened as Denver’s mayor, chief of police and manager of safety spoke reverently about her father.
He was a hero, they told her and the 150 others who gathered in the parking lot of the Salon Ocampo banquet hall.
Kelsey’s mother sobbed quietly as she stood behind her daughter, holding her close.
Two city workers hung a memorial sign bearing the name of Kelsey’s father. Then, the shaken voice of a dispatcher came over a police radio:
“Officer Donald Young at 1 a.m. on May 8, in the 1700 block of West Mississippi lost his life in the line of duty. We will now observe a moment of silence.”
And during the solitude, the rain began to fall.
Just inside the banquet hall, at the spot where 43-year-old Donald Young was shot, a St. Jude votive candle burned next to a bouquet of pink and yellow flowers. A gold crucifix glistened next to a photograph showing Young in uniform with his trademark smile.
Ruben Huizar, the owner of Salon Ocampo, where Young worked off-duty security for five years, said he placed that makeshift memorial inside as a sign of respect.
“He’s with me every day, every minute,” Huizar said. “With all the customers, he always had a big smile. He always got along with people.”
Kelly Young said her husband would be getting “a kick out of” the sign that hangs along the north side of Mississippi Avenue.
“It’s a great honor,” she said. “We are never going to forget this day. We want the people in this community to realize that Donnie loved working down here, and we hope the people who drive by remember him.”
Kelsey’s strength during the past year is undeniable, her mother said. “She continues to amaze me. She talks about him all the time.”
At soccer games, Kelsey tells her mother that she’s “hitting goals for Dad.”
Donald Young is survived by his wife, Kelsey and her sister Kourtney, 14, and 8-year-old Tanner Segura, a son from another relationship.
The Young family will attend two more memorial services for Detective Young.
On May 19, Donald Young and 60 other Denver officers killed will be honored at the memorial outside police headquarters.
Saturday, in Washington, D.C., Young’s name will be added to the National Law Enforcement Memorial.
For Kelly Young, the mementos and memorials are about her husband’s legacy as an officer. His impact as a father and husband are felt in those little moments, the pauses when she takes in another memory.
“I talk to him all the time in the car,” she said, laughing at what other people in traffic might think of her. “One of these days he’s going to answer me. He’s always going to be with us.”
Staff writer Felisa Cardona can be reached at 303-820-1219 or fcardona@denverpost.com.