Not long after he had said his morning goodbye and “I love you” to his wife, police officer Lt. Eric Eslary was in a horrible accident on duty.
He was hit head-on by a drunk driver and died within an hour of reaching the hospital, leaving his wife Mary Beth and their six children behind.
When his SUV was hit, Lt. Eslary was sitting next to his K-9 partner, Blek. Though the dog had substantial injuries from the crash, he refused to leave Lt. Eslary’s side. When Mrs. Eslary arrived on site, she not only found her husband lying on the ground, but the 6-year-old German Shepherd as well.
As Mary Beth began to mourn her husband and her children began to mourn their father, Blek was there for them the entire way.
image by Memories by Christy
In return, Mary Beth pledged to adopt Blek as her own and has dedicated herself to raising the dog in her husband’s memory.
image by Memories by Christy
“Lt. Eslary was a 17-year-veteran of the Ligonier Township Police Department in western Pennsylvania. He proudly helped develop its own K-9 program.”
image by Memories by Christy
To tell the tragic story of the loss of her husband, and how they turned it into a beautiful story of healing and love, Mary Beth took a series of photographs, each containing a portion of a longer message.
image by Memories by Christy
“It was a big comfort to know [Blek’s] here and I had at least a part of Eric back with me,” Mary Beth says. “And he’s glad to be home, too.”
image by Memories by Christy
As thousands came to pay their respects at his four visitation services, Lt Eslary was buried with photos of his wife and children.
image by Memories by Christy
“It’s an honor to now take care of Blek for Eric,” said Mary beth to WTAE. “I need him. The kids need him. We need him as a family.”
image by Memories by Christy
image by Memories by Christy
image by Memories by Christy
image by Memories by Christy
image by Memories by Christy
image by Memories by Christy
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