Lakewood police officer Nick Graham remembered as kind, brave
As police officers rolled a flag-draped casket carrying Nicholas “Nick” Graham’s body to the front of an Englewood church with a serenade of bagpipes and drums, his young son Peyton, trailing the casket in the arms of his mom, pointed up to a giant photo of his dad projected on a screen.
A spitting image of his dad, the 1-year-old was the center of his world, colleagues and family members of Graham said as they honored the fallen Lakewood police officer during a Thursday morning memorial service at BRAVE Church.
Graham, 33, was killed in a Nov. 5 shooting on a Regional Transportation District Bus in Lakewood. Thousands of people, mostly law enforcement officers, packed into the church to honor Graham where, for nearly two and a half hours, they remembered him as a dedicated police officer and a man who was much more than his badge.
Law enforcement officials from across Colorado — as far as Park and Montrose counties — and from across the country attended the commemoration. So did Graham’s relatives in law enforcement from Germany.
Before the service began, a procession of police vehicles stretched down East Hampden Avenue toward the church, lights flashing, while a group of law enforcement on horseback waited outside the church.
Family members and colleagues who spoke called Graham a devoted father, a loving husband and someone who never backed away from danger.
“He was the epitome of the kind of person you hope is out there protecting your community, someone who takes responsibility seriously, someone who is willing to put others before himself and someone who runs towards danger when everyone else is running away,” his widow, Kassidy Graham, said during the service. “Nick made the ultimate sacrifice doing exactly what he believed in.”
Graham followed his mom and dad into a career in law enforcement. His dad, Tom, worked for Aurora Police Department and his mom, Heidi, worked for the Aurora crime lab. While growing up, Graham and his older brother, Jason, would take ride-alongs with the officers their dad worked with. They got to know the staff at the crime lab through regular visits.
After Graham decided he wanted to pursue law enforcement, Heidi tried to instead sway him toward a future in firefighting, aware of the risks that came with the job.
But Graham could not be talked out of police work and he joined the police academy in January 2019. After graduating, he worked as a detention deputy at the Larimer County Sheriff’s Department. While there, he began applying to police departments in hopes of becoming an officer. Lakewood Police Department made him his first offer.
A natural leader, who excelled in investigations
Lakewood Police Chief Philip Smith described Graham as “the agent everyone wanted to work with.” Graham was a natural leader in the department, Smith said. He trained new officers and poured himself into the investigations division where he took on more than 300 cases, including the most serious ones.
Before he died, he was doing what he loved and what he was good at, continuously working to get better, Smith said.
“On that November day on the streets of our city, Nick and three other heroes held the line between an unsuspecting community and an unimaginable evil,” he said. “It may not feel that way today, but the good prevailed and at a heartbreaking cost.”
During the ceremony, dozens of men and women in law enforcement took turns walking up to either side of Graham’s casket, each carrying a blue rose they left in vases near the casket and saluting as they passed by. Two law enforcement officials wearing white gloves stood guard beside the casket at all times.
A bouquet of red and white flowers sat just above the casket on the stage where speakers took the podium. And a collection of Graham’s belongings and keepsakes flanked both sides of the stage, symbols of a full life lived over three decades: a police uniform, a photo of Graham’s beloved dog Gracie, a football jersey bearing Graham’s name and the number 2, a barbell, a photo of Graham and Kassidy and a vest resembling the American flag.
There was also a red gas can on the stage. Graham made a habit of driving his truck and even his patrol car until he barely had any fuel left in the tank, Jeff Schwarzentraub, senior pastor of BRAVE Church said. Last week, after he pulled his truck into the driveway, he was on empty. He and Kassidy drove to a gas station to fill up a gas can to bring back home, laughing the whole time, Schwarzentraub said.
“Even in the most ridiculous situations, he could turn an inconvenience into a memory that would make them laugh,” he said.
Graham’s family, friends and colleagues told stories of the humor he injected into their lives and the thoughtful ways he showed up as a son, husband and father.
He called his mom every day on his way to work “just to hear her voice and check in,” Schwarzentraub said.
During one of the ride-alongs Graham took as a teen, he and the officer parked near a dumpster while responding to a call. After taking care of the call, Graham found a wooden table leg on the ground and picked it up to carry the rest of the day, claiming it as his police baton.
While proposing to Kassidy at a country music concert in Greeley in July 2022, Graham carefully hatched a plan to surprise her. While dancing with her to Jon Pardi’s “Head over Boots,” he popped down on one knee just as Pardi sang, “the way you sparkle like a diamond ring.” A video of the moment went viral on social media.
His family said Kassidy was both his best friend and the love of his life. The two met eight years ago, when Kassidy spotted him on the StairMaster at the gym. Before they even talked, she began calling him her “gym boyfriend” in conversations with friends.
Kassidy described how deeply Graham cared about protecting his community and how selfless he was on the job, always darting forward when someone needed his help.
He stepped into his most important job when they welcomed their son, Peyton, Kassidy said. When she looks at Peyton, she sees her husband.
“I will make sure he knows who you are,” she said, speaking to Graham. “I will tell him stories about you, show him pictures and videos and make sure he knows just how much you loved him. He will know you were his hero long before he is old enough to understand what that means.”
After a standing ovation for Kassidy, law enforcement officials held the American flag that had been draped over Graham’s casket taut while many in the crowd stood ready to salute. A lone trumpet played “Taps.”
Officials folded the flag into the traditional triangle, passing it from officer to officer and finally to Smith, the police chief, who presented it to Kassidy, bending down to hug her. Smith offered a second folded flag to Graham’s parents, hugging each of them.
Toward the end of the memorial service, a final dispatch for Graham blared over speakers while bagpipes and drums played “Amazing Grace.”
“Agent Graham, you are clear for the end of watch. Rest in peace. We have the watch from here.”
