During a ceremony suited for a hero, Detective Deidre Mengedoht was carried through the atrium of Southeast Christian Church to be laid to rest.
The bagpipes played and officers stood at attention Monday morning, one week after the second division detective was struck by a truck during a traffic stop.
“Deidre was only 32-years-old. We should not have to be here today,” Pastor Greg Allen of Southeast Christian’s Crestwood campus said during the funeral.
Detective Deidre Mengedoht was known to those closest as ‘DeDe.’ Friends, family and those bonded by blue said she was a champion for Louisville from the moment she put on the badge.
“She was passionate about serving the community, keeping people safe and treating people with dignity,” said her best friend, Janelle Briscoe.
“Deidre embodied all of the good things a police officer should, and that was evident when she, as a detective, made a traffic stop on Christmas Eve,” said LMPD Chief Steve Conrad.
That traffic stop on I-64 would be her last.
Her nine-year-old son is now without his mother. Chief Conrad shared a message from Detective Mengedoht that she wrote in 2011 when she joined the department.
“My son, Preston Todd is my entire world. I may have given birth to him, but he definitely gave me life,” Chief Conrad read aloud.
Her horrific death stands as a painful reminder of the risk officers face every day, but the high spirited, compassionate, woman of God will not be forgotten.
“She hoped she would live up to her potential in this department. I'm here to say she did well more than that. She far exceeded her potential in this department and gave more than any officer should have to give,” Chief Conrad said.
More than 3,000 officers were at Southeast Christian Church, many from Kentucky, others from surrounding states and even one from the New York Police Department.