Almost two-thousand law enforcement officers joined family, friends and others in Wayzata to bid their final farewell to Officer Bill Mathews. His partner, Officer Dan Lee, told mourners to Bill Mathews there was no such thing as a solo call. Lee choked back tears saying, “It wasn’t because he believed you weren’t capable of handling a call alone, but instead he believed, if you go, I go; and if you should happen to fall, then we’ll fall together.”
His brother-in-law, Craig Budolfson said, Bill Mathews was about the most genuine person I have ever met in my entire life…. He was a man of his word, and his word was gold.” Casie Budolfson read a letter to Officer Mathews from his wife Shawn and son Wyatt: “Bill, we love you beyond words. You will always be our hero.”
Officer Mathews is laid to rest this afternoon at Summit Park Cemetery in Wayzata.