Piet Byleveld's widow‚ Elize‚ could not hold back her tears as the top cop's casket was ushered into the Rosebank Union Church‚ where Byleveld's memorial was held on Thursday.
Family and friends comforted each other as heartwarming letters from his loved ones were read out‚ remembering him as more than just a revered police officer but a man who was a father‚ grandfather‚ husband‚ brother and friend.
In her hand-written note‚ his wife Elize recalled his last words to her: "My angel‚ you can cry but don't keep your emotions in‚ otherwise you will bottle up‚" the letter read.
Flowers filled the stage and his casket‚ adorned with flowers‚ sat centre-stage with pictures of him on either side.
"The funeral bed is actually such a beautiful thing. It is a place where you surrender everything to God‚" said the memorial programme director Natalia Strydom.
Byleveld succumbed to cancer last Wednesday at the Wilgeheuwel clinic in Roodepoort in Johannesburg.
Byleveld was known as the "man hunter" and regarded as one of the country's top detectives.
His wife remembered how she woke him up with a cup of coffee every morning and how he spoke of things that made him happy and made him sad.
-TMG Digital/TimesLIVE
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