By David Vitrano
L’Observateur

LULING – Although he has been gone for nearly a week now, the spirit of St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Deputy Jeff Watson, who was killed in a crash last weekend, seemed to linger over a candlelight vigil held in his honor Thursday evening.
Following a visitation held at the Sheriff’s Office complex, hundreds of family members, friends and colleagues gathered under a darkened sky to remember Watson and pay tribute to a life ended too soon.
On this somber occasion, Maj. Eddie Beckendorf, with flags flying at half-mast behind him, invoked the spirit of his fallen colleague during the opening prayer, saying, “See this light we send forth,” and asked him to comfort those in mourning who he left behind.
Sheriff Greg Champagne then said a few words about Watson before presenting the deputy’s widow, Lynsey Watson, with two posthumous awards, the Award For Valor and the Purple Heart, as well as a shadowbox containing Watson’s badge and other mementoes from his law enforcement career. Following this, Capt. Pat Yoes presented his fallen colleague’s mother, Becky Watson, with the Fraternal Order of Police Supreme Sacrifice Award.
After this, the Watson family was invited to the front to begin the candle lighting, spreading the light among the crowd until the individual candles seemed to melt into one.
The ceremony closed with Watson’s colleagues carrying his flag-draped coffin to the waiting hearse.
Services for Watson continued Friday morning with a funeral at L.A. Muhleisen and Son in Kenner and a procession to Jefferson Memorial Gardens Cemetery in St. Rose.
Watson was killed Sunday evening while responding to a call on the west bank of St. Charles Parish.
A resident of Destrehan, Watson is survived by his wife and stepdaughter Abrial, and his coworkers with the St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office. Watson is the first St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s deputy to die in the line of duty since 1982 and only the fourth line-of-duty death in the department’s 200-year history.
 “Jeff was just a solid guy. He always had a good attitude. He worked hard, he made arrests, and he never drew complaints from the public. He was just one of those that could really do his job and treat people with respect. This was one of our finest deputies. It’s a real loss for us, and it’s a loss for the parish,” said Champagne.