CARMICHAELS, Pa. The first annual Officer Zane Breakiron Memorial Ride, presented by Carmichaels Riders and Zane’s parents, Garret and Mindy, will be held on Saturday, June 29.
Officer Zane Breakiron died in an off-duty vehicle crash in the early morning hours of June 3 last year near the Pennsylvania state line, three days before he would have celebrated his seventh year of service.
On WAJR’s “Talk of the Town,” Garret said more than 4,000 people attended the viewing or funeral for his son last year, and he estimated he knew about 40 percent of the people who filed through Abundant Life Church in Uniontown. Breakiron was active in the church for nearly two decades.
“We heard so many great comments from so many people, and we didn’t even know who they were, and so many stories from the Morgantown Police Department,” Breakiron said.
Garret remembered his son as a Christian man who valued family and loved people. He recalled a tattoo he got in Greek of the bible verse Philippians 4:13 that states, “II can do all this through him who gives me strength.” Garret, not a fan of tattoos, immediately asked what was on his arm, and the answer didn’t surprise him.
“Because people don’t know what it says, and they ask me what it says, and then I can tell them about my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ,” Breakiron said.
Registration for the ride begins Saturday at the Carmichaels, Pa. American Legion, at 9 a.m. Riders will leave at 11:30 a.m. sharp south to Morgantown, where the police department will provide an escort back to the state line via Pa. 43 to a planned stop at Braddocks Inn. The ride will then go to the Uniontown Mall, where there will be a short ceremony before going to Washington County and back to the American Legion in Carmichael around 5 p.m. for dinner, drinks, and music.
“We’ll stop at the Uniontown Mall where Pastor Mark Scott and Pastor Eric Johnson are going to give a brief talk and let anybody else who wants to say something about our son Zane speak.”
Zane’s mother, Mindy, said non-riders are welcome to attend the ceremony at the Uniontown Mall or the post-ride celebration at the Carmichael American Legion.
“Anyone not riding can join us at the Uniontown Mall and then at Carmichaels American Legion, and I think it’s a $10 ticket to have dinner with everyone else,” Mindy Breakiron said.
Breakiron said about $36,000 in memorials were collected for the West Virginia Law Enforcement Police K-9 Fund during the funeral and after, and they hope to make a similar donation following this event.
“The amount of people who came out and supported that is just amazing, and these dogs they get are exceptional, and they really help them do their job safely,” Mindy Breakiron said.
The ride is being organized by Carmichaels Riders and is strictly an alcohol-free event—no exceptions.
Sean Anker, a member of the Carmichaels Riders and friend of the Breakiron family, grew up in Pennsylvania near Farmington and Fort Necessity. He said he didn’t have many friends until he met the Breakiron family at a very young age. Sean’s father was friends with Garret; the friendship between Zane and his brother Zack developed during those visits, and it is a lifelong bond.