Last Saturday was Law Enforcement Appreciation Day. If you follow me or our show on Instagram, you may remember that I was asking for photos of LEO’s for a project I was going to work on throughout the weekend. The goal was to create a little gift or token of appreciation for our law enforcement officers. In return, I got the gift of making contact with so many husbands and wives (among other relatives) who wanted to shout out the officers they love.
On Friday night I was just cropping, editing and making videos as fast as the pictures were being received. And that’s when Jennifer Snook messaged me. Jennifer Snook has consumed my thoughts each day since then. She asked if she could submit a picture of her husband, Rick. He was with the Henry County Police Department for 21 years…until his death on Sunday, December 27th. Rick contracted the coronavirus and passed from a heart attack caused by it. He was at home quarantining when he started having chest pain. Then he spent a week in the hospital. Doctors found a six-inch blockage and corrected it. He came home on the 20th. Spent the week of Christmas at home recovering. On that Sunday, he took a nap and Jennifer couldn’t get him to wake up. Jennifer is shattered.
And how can anybody hear that story and not be shattered for Jennifer and her family? We continued to message back and forth and while she told me how much she missed her soulmate and how she’s trying to navigate life without him, I just couldn’t believe how strong she was. In a situation like this, I guess, you have no other choice. But I kept thinking to myself that she needs support. She needs to know that we’ve got her back. She needs to be able to mourn the loss of her husband and focus on her family without the worries of what’s next financially. And by family, I’m talking about the four children he also leaves behind.
Rick was a devoted family man. And aside from his 20+ years with the Henry County Police Department, he was also an Army Vet. He was a Sergeant with Henry County and had such a passion for law enforcement – a need to better his community. Rick worked hard and even picked up overtime work to ensure that his girls had a great education at Creekside.
A GoFundMe has been established and I’m asking that if there is anything you’ve heard during this story that moves you, to please PLEASE make a donation by CLICKING HERE.
I can’t imagine trying to pick up the pieces after something like this happens, but I know who listens to this station. And I know that our Bull family is the best when it comes to lifting each other up so we can find the strength to pick up those pieces.
And if you can’t make a donation, please just lift this family up in prayer. This is a family of faith and those prayers are getting them through this.
Thank you for your service, Sgt. Snook. May you rest in peace knowing that we will get your family through this.
Photos: Jennifer Snook