Story highlights
- Police honor guard takes Ramos' casket into church
- Rafael Ramos, 40, saw being police officer as "God's work," chaplain says
- He was about to graduate from a 10-week lay chaplaincy program
- Ramos and Officer Wenjian Liu were gunned down while in patrol car
Rafael Ramos was an unusual cop.
He saw the streets of New York as his ministry.
In fact, he was just hours away from becoming a lay chaplain and graduating from a community-crisis chaplaincy program before he and fellow New York police Officer Wenjian Liu were gunned down in their patrol car Saturday in Brooklyn.
The gunman in the two officers' killing, Ismaaiyl Brinsley, 28, was found dead of self-inflicted gunshot wounds at a subway station immediately after the slayings.
Services for Liu are pending. On Friday, a police honor guard took Ramos' casket into Christ Tabernacle in Glendale, New York, where an afternoon wake was being held. The visitation will be followed by a memorial service at 7 p.m. ET and a funeral service Saturday morning.
Some 25,000 police officers from around the country are expected to attend the funeral, according to the New York Police Department. JetBlue told CNN it has arranged for approximately 670 law enforcement officers to travel to New York for free.
Cops remembered as loving family members 02:10
Officer Rafael Ramos
Speakers at the funeral will include Vice President Joe Biden, Mayor Bill De Blasio and NYPD Commissioner William Bratton.
Ramos, 40, enjoyed the spiritual dimension to life and work.
"He told me that his job even with the NYPD, he felt he was doing God's work," the Rev. Marcos Miranda, president of the New York State Chaplain Task Force, told Arise America on YouTube.
"He felt that he was protecting and serving his community and that was a sort of a ministry for him. And I totally agreed with him," Marcos said. "He said this type of ministry, the chaplaincy, he could see himself doing this in the future as a full-time ministry after he retired from the NYPD."
Marcos heads an organization that runs the 10-week course for lay chaplaincy, which Ramos completed, the minister said.
Widow and two sons
Ramos always carried a smile, Marcos said.
Photos: Photos: Two NYPD officers fatally shot
Photos: Photos: Two NYPD officers fatally shot
Two NYPD officers fatally shot – People light candles during a vigil on Sunday, December 21, for two NYPD officers who were ambushed and killed on Saturday. The two NYPD officers, Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos, were shot while sitting in their police car. Police have named Ismaaiyl Brinsley as the shooter.
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Photos: Photos: Two NYPD officers fatally shot
Two NYPD officers fatally shot – Lucy Ramos, aunt of slain police officer Rafael Ramos, speaks at a news conference in front of Ramos' childhood home on December 21.
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Photos: Photos: Two NYPD officers fatally shot
Two NYPD officers fatally shot – A New York City police officer kneels on Sunday, December 21, in front of a small memorial for two police officers who were killed in Brooklyn, New York, on Saturday.
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Photos: Photos: Two NYPD officers fatally shot
Two NYPD officers fatally shot – The Rev. Al Sharpton, center, speaks about the killings of the officers during a news conference at the National Action Network headquarters in New York on December 21. Behind him are, from left, Esaw Garner, widow of Eric Garner; attorney Michael Hardy; Gwen Carr, mother of Eric Garner; and attorney Jonathan Moore.
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Photos: Photos: Two NYPD officers fatally shot
Two NYPD officers fatally shot – Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, third from right, speaks on December 21 while Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, fourth from right, and Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, right, listen during a news conference at an impromptu memorial near the site where the officers were shot.
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Photos: Photos: Two NYPD officers fatally shot
Two NYPD officers fatally shot – Mourners stand at attention as the bodies of two fallen NYPD officers are transported from Woodhull Medical Center on Saturday, December 20.
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Photos: Photos: Two NYPD officers fatally shot
Two NYPD officers fatally shot – New York Police Department Commissioner Bill Bratton speaks alongside Mayor Bill de Blasio, left, and NYPD's Chief of Department James O'Neill, right, during a news conference at Woodhull Medical Center on December 20.
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Photos: Photos: Two NYPD officers fatally shot
Two NYPD officers fatally shot – Investigators work the scene where two NYPD officers were shot December 20, in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York.
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Photos: Photos: Two NYPD officers fatally shot
Two NYPD officers fatally shot – The officers were shot and killed ambush-style Saturday afternoon as they sat in their patrol car in Brooklyn, officials said.
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Photos: Photos: Two NYPD officers fatally shot
Two NYPD officers fatally shot – The officers -- one with two years' experience, the other with seven years on the job -- were normally assigned to downtown Brooklyn but were working a "critical response" detail in an area with higher crime, police said.
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Photos: Photos: Two NYPD officers fatally shot
Two NYPD officers fatally shot – The shooter was found dead in a nearby subway station from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, officials said. The shooter, identified as Ismaaiyl Brinsley, arrived in New York from Baltimore, police said.
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Photos: Photos: Two NYPD officers fatally shot
Two NYPD officers fatally shot – The shooting occurred near Myrtle and Tompkins avenues in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn.
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Photos: Photos: Two NYPD officers fatally shot
Two NYPD officers fatally shot – Police officers gather near the scene of the shooting. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder called the attack "an unspeakable act of barbarism."
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Two NYPD officers fatally shot – An officer with a police dog monitors the scene on the evening of December 20.
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What drove cop killer to act? 02:58
Garner's daughter visits NYPD memorial 04:32
"He had the kindest eyes you could see. They radiated kindness and compassion," Marcos said.
Ramos leaves a wife, Maritza, whom he married in 1993, and two sons, Justin and Jaden, said the Rev. Adam Durso, executive pastor of Christ Tabernacle, which Ramos attended for nearly 14 years.
To his close friends and even to his family, Ramos often went by Ralph, not Rafael.
"Ralph was definitely a family man. He always talked about his kids and how well they were doing athletically and academically," Durso said.
A son's farewell
Ramos' son Jaden recounted on his Facebook page how "I had to say bye to my father" after the shooting.
"(H)e was the best father I could ask for. It's horrible that someone gets shot dead just for being a police officer. Everyone says they hate cops but they are the people that they call for help. I will always love you and I will never forget you. RIP Dad," Jaden wrote.
An usher to all
Visitors pay respects to two slain police officers this week at a memorial in New York's Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood.
On his Facebook page, Ramos spoke of his faith and noted that he studied at Faith Evangelical College and Seminary in Tacoma, Washington, which also offers online courses.
Ramos posted this quote as the cover photo at the top of his Facebook page: "If your way isn't working, try God's way."
Ramos was active in his church.
He served as an usher and as part of the church's marriage ministry and life group ministry, Durso said.
"When his team was scheduled to serve, we never worried about whether Ralph would be there with his team to help. He was a humble man and was willing to help at any capacity, helping people to their seats, moms with their baby carriages or the elderly in and out of our elevator," Durso said in a statement.
