MIDDLEBURG — On Sunday, Deputy Zirbel was hit while riding his motorcycle southbound on Blanding Boulevard near Camp Francis Johnson Road. He succumbed to his injuries on Tuesday.
Several law enforcement officers and officials including Governor Rick Scott attended Zirbel’s funeral at St. Luke’s Catholic Church in Middleburg on Saturday.
“While Ben may be gone, his spirit will live on in each and every one of us,” Zirbel’s brother said.
Deputy Ben Zirbel’s brother stood strong in front of hundreds of people packed into St. Luke’s Catholic Church.
The law enforcement community is a support system to Zirbel’s family.
“To say his family has held up well would be an understatement. We’re proud of them, they’ve got shoulders to lean on with the sheriff’s office. The family they have extends beyond the blood they have related to them. It extends to the sheriff’s office and we’ll continue to stand by that,” Chris Padgett with the Clay County Sheriff’s Office said.
The deputies also stood in a guard of honor for Deputy Zirbel who would greet everyone with a smile.
He was a man who loved his family, and his brothers and sisters in the Clay County Sheriff’s Office.
That love spread to agencies across the state.
“We work together day in and day out and those relationships extend across county lines, so it was easy for us to be here to show respect to Ben and his family that they deserve,” City of Jacksonville Sheriff Mike Williams said.
Much like the military plane that flew over the church, Zirbel is looking down on his family and friends who miss him dearly.
“Ben’s memory will never disappear. Though him as a human being involved in our lives has, but just like that flyover, that leaves an impression, so does Ben Zirbel’s life,” Padgett said.
A life these men and women were grateful to be in.
Zirbel is laid to rest at Russell Haven of Rest Cemetery.