Newman Police Cpl. Ronil Singh will be laid to rest on Saturday, Jan. 5, by his community full of heavy hearts.
Singh, a 7-year veteran of the Newman Police Department, was shot and killed while investigators say he was doing a traffic stop near Merced Street and Eucalyptus Avenue.
All week, family, friends, co-workers and community members have spoken out about the man that touched their lives.
"There's a lot of people out there that misses him," Reggie Singh, Ronil's brother said.
"You ask anybody, but he was never in a bad mood. It was unreal. He loved what he did," Chief Randy Richardson of the Newman Police Department said.
Singh, 33, came to America from Fiji with one purpose.
"When I sat with him in the Chief's interview, he told me he came to America to become a police officer. That's all he wanted to do," Richardson said.
He leaves behind a wife, his 5-month-old son, and his police K9, Sam.
His wife posted family photos on Facebook Christmas Day, just one day before he lost his life in the line of duty.
"He was a good dude. He was a family man. He loved his wife. He loved his son. He loved his job," said Stockton Police Officer Jason Da Silva.
His colleagues at the Newman Police Department say Singh wanted his son to follow in his footsteps and someday become a police officer too.
"I'm going to teach you everything that you need to know. You're our family just like he is," Newman Police Corporal Williams said.
Singh started at the Turlock Police Department as an animal control officer, then worked for the Merced County Sheriff's Office as a reserve officer, before joining the Newman Police Department back in 2011.
"He really didn't know the language too well, and obviously he didn't graduate from any high school. So in order to become a cop he had to get his AA from the college for his transcripts and all that to get hired on by the police department," Da Silva said.
English was his third language and, with a thick accent, he took speech classes on his own time to improve his communication.
"He took it upon himself to make himself better and that was just the kind of man he was," Richardson said.
Even getting a promotion to corporal within the last year.
"He loved being a police officer. He loved being a husband. He loved being a father. He loved to hunt. He loved to fish," Richardson said.
Singh shared his own sense of adventure through his posts on Instagram; fishing, camping and traveling with family.
Friends say Ronil was the kind of man everyone in his tight-knit community of a little more than 10,000 knew.
"We're going to miss him. Newman, it's never going to be the same without him," Maria Kiearta, a family friend said.
There will be two honor guard viewings for Corporal Singh on Friday, Jan. 4. The first from 9 a.m. to noon at the Newman Community Room, 1300 Patchett Drive. Then, another from 5 — 9 p.m. at the Salas Brother Funeral Home, 419 Scenic Drive in Modesto.
The funeral service is scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 5 at the Crosspoint Community Church, 1301 12th St. in Modesto.
That service will be immediately followed by an honor guard procession to Lakewood Memorial Park in Hughson.
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