For 44 years, Pat Nading-Amman has cried at every family graduation or wedding because her husband, a Denver Police Department officer killed in the line of duty, was not there.
“You know, there’s no expiration date for being a police widow,” she said.
Merle Nading was while trying to control a crowd during a fight in a nightclub parking lot in east Denver. He was attacked by a man in the crowd.
Nading held the man in a headlock, but the man reached around and grabbed Nading’s gun and then shot him in the back, Nading-Amman said.
Nading-Amman attended a fallen officers memorial service Thursday at Denver Police Department headquarters with four generations of the family.
This week is National Police Week, and departments across the country take time to honor their fallen. Aurora Police Department held on Tuesday.
The last Denver police officer killed in the line of duty was Celena Hollis, who was shot to death in 2012 while rushing to break up a fight during a City Park concert.
In 2015, three Denver police officers were shot, and two of them had life-threatening injuries.
“It was a really tough year,” Police Chief Robert White said. “Two officers were involved in incidents that could have gone the other way.”
Noelle Phillips: 303-954-1661, nphillips@denverpost.com or @Noelle_Phillips
