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834 Henry, You Are Still Greatly Missed, Sir
Monday, July 27, 2009. Just before sunset on a sweltering hot Arizona evening, Tiffany Cortez and sons Koltan and Gunner, flanked by family, friends, and members of law enforcement gathered at Resthaven Park Cemetery in northwest Phoenix. They stood at the gravesite where two years ago, a police dispatcher’s voice was broadcast to the thousands who attended the service saying, “834 Henry. Goodnight, sir. You’ll be greatly missed.” That simple, final statement can bring a grown man to his knees, fill a heart with the deepest sorrow, and perhaps pay the ultimate respect for a member of law enforcement who gave his life in the line-of-duty.
“834 Henry” was the police call sign assigned to 33 year-old Phoenix police Officer George Valentino Cortez, Jr., #8232, husband, father, and a respected officer with the department for more than two years. Cortez was shot and killed during a call of a forgery-in-progress at a check-cashing business near 83rd Avenue and Encanto Boulevard in Phoenix. The suspects, a man and a woman, were both taken into custody and have been prosecuted for first-degree murder.
Tiffany Cortez tearfully addressed the more than 250 people in attendance.
Standing by her side was her father, an officer with the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, and her mother and the two boys she has been left to raise alone, Kolton and Gunner who were four and two when their father was murdered. Kolton, sensing his mom was faltering, protectively wrapped his arm around her as she said, “It means so much to my boys and me that you all continue to remember George.”
Yes, Officer Cortez, you are greatly missed.