When the late Georgetown Police Officer Chad Spicer turned one, residents of the County Seat were celebrating in unison.

The occasion: Georgetown’s Senior League Baseball All-Star team had won the Little League World Series. That’s not what Spicer’s mother, Ruth Ann, whispered in her son’s ear when infant Chad and his family joined the festivities, however.

“I told him, ‘look at all these people who came to celebrate your birthday,’” Ruth Ann recalled, May 5 as a group once again gathered on The Circle to honor Chad.

This time, however, it was in remembrance of the slain officer’s life.

Those in attendance, several of whom were wiping away tears, were witness to the unveiling of a monument dedicated to Chad’s life and the sacrifice he made when he was shot and killed, Sept. 1, 2009, by convicted capital murderer Derrick Powell.

“What [Chad] did will now be remembered long after all of us are gone,” Police Chief William Topping told the crowd. “We miss you, Chad.”

The erected monument was a joint effort between Parsell Funeral Home, the Town of Georgetown and its police department.

Officers from several local police departments, New Castle County and the Delaware State Police were all on hand at the unveiling. Dignitaries were also seen scattered throughout The Circle, including several members of Sussex County Council and Georgetown Mayor Brian Pettyjohn.

Pettyjohn addressed the crowd, and recalled a conversation he had with Chad about the officer’s life, plans for the future and dreams.

“On that day (Sept. 1, 2009), everything changed,” Pettyjohn said. “We can’t take back what happened or change the past, but we must remember the man Chad was and still is in all of our hearts.”

Powell’s fate for his crime – either the death penalty or life in prison – will be decided May 20 by Superior Court Judge T. Henley Graves.

Talk of the Sept. 1, 2009, event and how it affected the community, however, was limited at the monument’s unveiling. Instead, those in attendance chose to speak of Chad’s impact while he was still alive.

“Today,” Ruth Ann said, “we’re here to celebrate Chad’s life.”