Mourners Gather at Wake for Slain New York Police Officer - New York Times

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Police officers carried the coffin of Officer Rafael Ramos into Christ Tabernacle in Queens before his wake on Friday. Credit Andrew Renneisen for The New York Times

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At Christ Tabernacle, a megachurch in the Glendale neighborhood of Queens with thousands of members, an usher known as Ralph had no small task come Sundays. Dressed in a suit, he helped mothers handle baby carriages, steered the elderly to the elevator and personified the “little” in a self-described “big little church” by making churchgoers feel at home.

“He had an infectious smile,” said the Rev. Ralph Castillo, one of the church’s 18 pastors. “When I think of Ralph I think of his smile and his consistency. He didn’t have to be there. This is something he chose to do. He was faithful and consistent.”

On Friday, thousands of people were expected to walk through the doors of that same church to mourn Ralph, as Officer Rafael Ramos was known. Officer Ramos, 40, was one of two police officers killed on Saturday as they sat in their squad car in Brooklyn, shot by an assassin targeting the police. Services for his partner, Officer Wenjian Liu, 32, are being delayed until members of his family can make arrangements to travel from their home in China.

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Officers arrived before the wake. Only Officer Ramos's family and members of the New York Police Department would be allowed inside the church for the memorial service Friday evening. Credit Andrew Renneisen for The New York Times

The wake and memorial service was expected to draw mourners from all corners of the city – friends and strangers alike – as well as city and police department officials who put aside their divisions momentarily to pay their respects to “a humble man” willing to help in any capacity, as a statement posted on the Christ Tabernacle website described Officer Ramos.

“This is a tragic loss for us as a church but we are committed to Maritza, Jaden and Justin to give them what Ralph gave us week in and week out,” the statement said, referring to Officer Ramos’s wife and two sons.

A group of about 15 mourners, some carrying a single white rose, already had lined up by the church’s entrance before noon, waiting to go in for the viewing, which was to begin at 2 p.m. A giant Christmas wreath with festive ornaments decorated the brick building’s front. Church officials said only the family and members of the New York Police Department would be inside the church for the 7 p.m. memorial service. But they said they planned to set up several jumbo screens at a nearby gas station and other spots in the area so that the expected large crowds could watch the service.

“Today we weep with the Ramos family, the New York Police Department and the nation as we mourn the loss of our dear brother,” Pastor Castillo said to the press standing outside the church. “He was a gift to our church.”

Neighbors milled around the church in front of restaurants and grocery stores. Friends who lived five blocks away, Delia Ramos, 73, and Sal Conti, 72, said they came to pay their respects even if they feared the event could turn violent. “We just had breakfast at the diner and the officers there all had bullet-proof vests,” Mr. Conti said. “They can’t even relax. They have to worry somebody will shoot them. It’s a shame.”

Ms. Ramos said: “I hope that things get better between the community and the police. All this animosity is a horror.”

The two said they had seen protesters gathering in one corner across from the church but they turned out to be three young men wearing T-shirts reading: “Funerals don’t count, Spread Love Now.” They said that was the name of an organization they formed two months ago to raise money for the family of a friend with cancer. They said they had shown up to stand with the families of the slain officers.

“It shouldn’t take a funeral to show love,” one of the men, Sander Cameau, 27, said.

It was a tragedy mourners said they could not comprehend.

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Friends and strangers alike came to pay their respects. Credit Andrew Renneisen for The New York Times

Officer Ramos joined Christ Tabernacle 14 years ago. He belonged to a congregation of about 4,000 members but, said Pastor Castillo, “he was not just a churchgoer. He was an active member, a faithful member of the church.”

Mr. Ramos participated in one of the church’s “life groups,” smaller circles of members who met once a month to socialize, follow a church curriculum and engage in other learning activities. But his primary role was serving in a team of ushers to welcome members, usually through three Sunday services, Pastor Castillo said.

“Our ushers are very important,” Pastor Castillo said. “We tell our ushers ‘The first person they see is you.'  ”

Relatives and colleagues said that Officer Ramos had attended the Faith Evangelical College and Seminary in Washington State and hoped to become a chaplain. At Christ Tabernacle, church officials said in their statement, “he always talked about his kids and how well they were doing athletically and academically.”

“He loved his family and his church,” the statement said.

Since the killings, Pastor Castillo said church members had lent their support and expertise to Officer Ramos’s wife and sons to tend to any need that came up.

“There are no words to describe their pain,” he said of the family.

He said that, other than when members lost loved ones on Sept. 11, he could not think of a more personal tragedy for the church, which counts other police officers – as well as firefighters and correction officers — among its members.

“The church is heartbroken,” he said. “It has been devastating for all of us.”

“He leveraged his position as a police officer to do good for the community. We lost two heroes.”

Asked how members were dealing with the manner in which Mr. Ramos died and the divisions that had ensued in the city over the protests against police brutality, Pastor Castillo said: “Our response to 9/11, to Ferguson, to Eric Garner, is to pray. We have taken our hurt and our questions and our disappointment and we go to God and we pray.”

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