'There's a meaning in his death,' father of fallen Knightdale police officer says
Tim Hayworth saw a lot of misery during his 20 years as police chief in Zebulon, but nothing compares to the grief his family has endured this week following the death of his son, a rookie officer with the Knightdale Police Department.
"We’re crying a lot. We’re remembering a lot," Hayworth told WRAL News on Thursday. "A week ago today, we were at the [State] Fair. He had a blast, ate everything he could possibly see, rode the Ferris wheel. ... Today, we’re having his visitation."
"The pain is unbearable – it’s beyond imagination – but there’s a meaning," Tim Hayworth said. "There was a meaning in his life, and even though I don’t get it, there’s a meaning in his death."
Ryan Hayworth, who also served in the Middle East with the Army National Guard, always wanted to follow in his father's law enforcement footsteps. He was so excited about his work in Knightdale, where he worked for only three months before his death, he called his father at the end of each shift to tell him what he had done that day.
"I wrote my first ticket. I made my first arrest. I went to court," Tim Hayworth recalled his son telling him. "He would have been a leader in the police department. ... Ryan was destined for greatness."
Ryan Hayworth had a love of service, whether in the military, in law enforcement or in his church, his father said.
"He started service work when he was a kid. I mean mission trips," Tim Hayworth said. "He was just excited about life."
In addition to their profession, the father and son shared a love of the outdoors, sports and "Jeopardy." Tim Hayworth said he recorded every episode of the game show while his son was deployed overseas, and they watched them together over the past year.
"He was very excited [and] pumped up. He would know those answers," Tim Hayworth said, adding that he probably will never watch "Jeopardy" again.
Although Ryan Hayworth was "a tough guy," according to his father, he also had a softer side, loving candles, babies and weddings. He was supposed to have been part of his younger brother's wedding next April.
"He was the guy who gave you a hug," Tim Hayworth said. "The first thing anyone is going to tell you about Ryan is his smile and his laugh. [He was] a real outgoing, bubbly kind of guy, very exuberant."
A candlelight vigil Wednesday night drew a crowd, and the same is expected for a funeral procession planned for Friday afternoon. Ryan Hayworth would be humbled by the outpouring of support from the community, his father said.
"I’m hoping that he touches more people in his death than we could even in our lives," Tim Hayworth said. "I want our community and I want people to remember him and those principles that he stood for."
