‘Great guy. Great father. Great Friend’: Ceremony honors Horry cop who died from COVID
The tinge of sadness in the air at a Murrells Inlet beach on Saturday was quickly overtaken by feelings of honor, respect and love for the 100 people gathered in the sand.
The horn of an Hawaiian Conch seashell echoing off the overcast sky broke the steady pattern of waves crashing on the shore as the crowd stood silent. The horn called for those who could not be seen.
Specifically, Horry County police Cpl. Michael Ambrosino.
“Great guy. Great father. Great friend,” Tracey Ambrosino said of her husband.
He was that and more to the beachfront crowd that celebrated his life and honored his memory with a paddle-out ceremony on Saturday. Michael Ambrosino died after a battle with COVID-19 in mid-August. The death of the 30-year law enforcement veteran hit Horry County police and the community hard. His death was the first publicly confirmed in the first-responder community.
Michael spent the last dozen years working in Horry County, mostly on beach patrol.
That is why members of beach patrol and other police from the Grand Strand held the traditional oceanfront ceremony. It included a few words, then about 20 officers grabbed their boards and swam into the Atlantic to lay flowers, splash and remember their friend.
The ceremony started with a parade of 20 police vehicles — and Michael’s blue Jeep — parading down the beach from Garden City to Murrells Inlet. At first, people were confused about why there were two dozen police vehicles in the sand.
The whispered confusion soon became silent reverence as word of the ceremony spread.
As the parade drove down the beach, people stopped in the beach access lots to watch and record a moment on their cell phone.
In addition to working beach patrol, Michael was a member of the county’s SWAT unit. But, talk to anyone about him, and they first speak of his softer side. Whether that was helping at schools or Christmastime’s Shop with a Cop, he never missed a chance with either.
Horry County police Deputy Chief Ken Davis recalled when he worked with The Citadel police and came to Horry County to participate in Shop with a Cop. Michael helped a youngster, Davis said, and when they passed their budget, there was never a thought to stop.
“Mike dug into his pocket not once, but twice,” Davis recalled.
The man behind badge number 479 loved his beach patrol teammates and loved the department, Davis said.
He also loved his family — wife Tracey and sons Tanner and Ryan. It was the love of the beach that brought Michael and his family to the beach. After retiring from law enforcement in New York, Michael was frankly tired of the snow. Beach life suited him.
“He loved every minute of it,” said his wife of 22 years.
Michael would send pictures to her every morning of the sunrise or other picturesque moments he found, Tracey remembered. When he wasn’t on duty, Michael could often be found in his garage working on his blue Jeep. As Tracey put it — when you buy a Jeep, you’ve got to work on it.
It’s been about a month since Michael died and Tracey said Horry County police is genuinely a family offering help and support.
“We get through day by day,” she said, fighting through a few tears, “some ups, some downs.”
She also talked about the community support, which stretched beyond Horry County, beyond the Grand Strand, beyond South Carolina.
“I bet I got cards from every state in the U.S.,” Tracey said.
The cards and nationwide support showed the family that while the perception might be people are against police, that is not the case. People do care for their police officers.
“In a world where there [seems to be] so much turmoil and you have so much negativity,” Tracey said, “that is not the world we live in.”
This story was originally published September 26, 2020 at 2:22 PM.
