Wife & Precious Daughters Release Heart Melting Family Pictures, A Year After The Cop Was Killed In A Crash

Oct 31, 2018 by apost team

On October 24, 2017, State Trooper Daniel Keith Rebmen Jr was parked in the emergency lane of a South Carolina highway, when a driver who had fallen asleep at the wheel suddenly slammed into Rebmen’s patrol car.

Rebmen survived long enough to be transported to a hospital, where he later died, surrounded by loved ones.

The trooper left behind his grief-stricken wife and three daughters, who, a year later, have transformed that grief into a haunting series of portraits that speaks to their enduring faith and the support given to them by an entire community.

That support, Rebmen’s wife, Michelle, said, helped her and her daughters to survive a difficult first year. A year that included events like the day Rebmen’s daughter, Olivia, graduated kindergarten, when seven highway patrol officers showed up to cheer her on. And, again, that fall, when officers came to walk the girls to their first day of school.

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“Our Highway Patrol family has been there since the very first moment,” she said. “They spent time grieving with us and supporting us during the worst days of our lives. Once the funeral was over, their support has never stopped.

They have done yard work, fixed appliances, attended soccer games, and they continue to show up for our family, for every major event in our lives.”

That unfailing aid and sense of family, Michelle said, was what first drew her late husband to his career.

“My husband became a trooper in part because he wanted that bond, that brotherhood,” she said, “and they truly honor him by the way they care for us.”

But with the anniversary of Rebmen’s death approaching, grief became more difficult to manage for those who knew and cared for him. Looking for a way to honor his memory, the family contacted a local photographer, Jennifer Davisson.

She shot the portrait series that beautifully encapsulated the grief shared between family and community, as well as the faith that saw them through a trying year.

Featured in the photographs were items of deep significance to the Rebmen family. One such item was the folded American flag that Michelle received at Rebmen’s funeral, while others included the folded Carolina flag his daughters received and a teddy bear made from his uniform, lovingly referred to as “daddy bear.”

The photographs were shared on the night before the anniversary of Rebmen’s death, at 7 p.m., which was the starting time of his final shift and the last time Michelle ever kissed her husband goodbye.

Davisson capped off the photo series with a pledge to the fallen father and husband. “Trooper Rebman, until that day you are together again, we promise to continue holding your family up, as a community. Your legacy will live on through them, and you will not be forgotten.” 
Here´s a video of the family saying their final good-byes to Trooper Rebman:

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