Police officers surprise the son of fallen officer, attending his 5th grade graduation

Kaleb Crowder’s father couldn’t attend his fifth grade graduation on Friday,  the elder Crowder, a Boynton Beach Florida police officer, died suddenly in 2016.

But Kaleb got the surprise of his life at the Northboro Elementary School graduation when several of his father’s brothers and sisters in blue showed up to cheer Kaleb on at the ceremony.

 ‘It meant everything to us to be there. We all felt like proud parents,’ Stephanie Slater, the police department’s spokeswoman who also attended Kaleb’s graduation told the Palm Beach Post. ‘We are so proud of the fine young man that Kaleb is and we know that Joe was smiling his giant smile this morning watching Kaleb, too.’  

Kaleb’s father,  Officer Joe Crowder, died in December 2016 of a heart attack while he was out for a jog.  Officer Crowder had served nearly 14 years in the Boynton Beach Police Department, and was also a staff sergeant in the Army Reserves. 

Kaleb graduated from the Northboro Elementary School in West Palm Beach Florida on Friday 

The Boynton Beach Police posted several photos of the day on their Facebook page, including all of them posing with the graduate

Officer Joe Crowder worked in the K9 unit.  He died while out for a jog in December 2016

When he died, members of the Department vowed to always be there for Kaleb and his brother.  So when they heard about the graduation, nine of them showed up to surprise and support the boy. 

And Stephanie Slater told the paper that the surprise worked!   ‘When he was walking down the red carpet and he saw us his face just lit up. He sat two rows in front of us and kept looking back at all of us. There were lots of hugs and smiles.’

After the event, The department posted a video and a message to Kaleb on their Facebook page.  ‘Congratulations, Kaleb! We are so proud of you, and we know your dad is too. We love you.’