Andrew Hong

Thousands of police officers from across Canada and community members paid tribute Wednesday to Toronto Police Const. Andrew Hong.

The parades and pageantry served us — the public — to honour our grief and gratitude. We can only hope all its trappings and formalities may have provided ...

“He would want us to carry on and live life to the fullest as he did. Matthew Moyer of the Traffic Services division offered a tribute that was more intensely personal — and more moving for it — remembering him as a joker, and especially as a father and husband. We can only hope all its trappings and formalities may have provided the Hong family some small comfort, in a time of bottomless pain. We lost a friend, a brother, a son, a husband and a father,” she said. The death of any officer in the line of duty will always bring out a large grieving presence by fellow police determined to show strength and solidarity. “Sometimes these heroes make the ultimate sacrifice, as Andrew did.” [accounts](https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2022/09/13/gunman-shot-and-carjacked-nearby-driver-after-killing-toronto-const-andrew-hong.html) of those who knew him, Hong was a committed public servant and a beloved friend and family member. Where one of the saddest days of your life becomes the occasion for a parade that television commentators will describe as “awesome.” Police came from all over North America by the thousands, to march in full dress uniform, in step, into the Toronto Congress Centre, a convention venue transformed into a funeral chapel. “Charming,” “caring,” a man who “lit up the room,” always laughing and joking and hugging, and a “great teddy bear.” He had his nickname, “Honger,” emblazoned on the front of his motorcycle after achieving his unswerving professional ambition to serve on the Traffic Services motorcycle squad. He just happened to walk into the wrong coffee shop at the wrong time while in uniform. Andrew Hong on Wednesday afternoon was right here in Toronto, honouring a man whose life was cut short senselessly in its prime, a father who most of us only came to know after he was