Jimmy's In Heaven Now With My Dad And My Lord Slain Deputy Given Emotional
Farewell
Times Picayune 10-10-1996

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About 2,500 uniformed law enforcement officers from throughout Louisiana
escorted slain Jefferson Parish sheriff's deputy James Clarius to his final
resting place Wednesday during emotional ceremonies marked by decades of
police tradition.

It was a day of grieving and saying goodbye for the family and friends of
Clarius, shot to death Saturday when he stopped a robbery suspect in central
Metairie.

The spectacle of the service slowed traffic on Interstate 10 to a crawl and
prompted many motorists to leave their vehicles and watch from the highway's
edge.

Jefferson Parish Sheriff Harry Lee, who led the walking procession from Lake
Lawn Metairie Funeral Home to a nearby mausoleum, called it "a special way to
say 'goodbye' to a special officer."

The procession was steeped in police tradition.

A riderless horse, with boots backward in the stirrups, paraded behind the
Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office honor guard. Along with its flags, the guard
hoisted nine black banners, each bearing the name of a deputy slain in the
line of duty since Lee became sheriff in 1978.

"It's very difficult to bury one of your own," said Capt. Douglas Champagne,
honor guard commander. "What we're doing here today is paying a fallen brother
about the greatest honor that can be paid."

Several hundred white police cruisers from numerous jurisdictions flanked the
mausoleum entrance and circle drive, all flashing blue lights, paying a "light
honor" as Clarius' casket passed.

Louisiana State Police officers lined the final approach to the mausoleum and
the entire procession passed under arches formed by the ladders of two
Jefferson Parish fire trucks.

Near the steps of the mausoleum, Marine Reserves from the New Orleans area
fired a 21-gun salute. Brass wailed out "Taps."

Men and women sobbed and embraced while listening to the words of a song
traditionally sung in memory of fallen officers: "Somebody killed a policeman
today and part of America died . . . Now his ghost walks the beat."

Bagpipes played "Amazing Grace."

"When a police officer dies, the bagpipers blow him to heaven," said
Champagne, who on Tuesday evening awarded his department's highest accolade to
Clarius posthumously.

Outside the mausoleum, Lee presented Clarius' widow, Monique Demma Clarius,
with the medal and the United States flag that draped her husband's coffin.

Mrs. Clarius greeted thousands who came to pay their respects Wednesday as her
husband's body lay in state before the funeral.

She said her faith got her through.

"Jimmy's in heaven now with my dad and my Lord," she said. "That's all I have
to know."

Her father, Sheriff's Office East Bank Commander Mike Demma, died of cancer 10
months ago. Clarius was buried in Demma's tomb.