‘Your good deeds go with you’: Sedgwick County Deputy Sidnee Carter’s funeral

Law enforcement officials and first responders joined together Friday in Wichita to honor one of their own: Sidnee Carter, a 22-year-old Sedgwick County deputy killed in the line of duty.

The church pews at St. Francis of Assisi were flooded with a mix of family and friends, but a sea of blue was prominent as law enforcement officers paid their final respects to their colleague.

Dozens of police departments and sheriff’s offices from around the state were represented — from as far as Olathe and Kansas City.

Carter died Oct. 7 while responding to a disturbance call. She was driving south in a patrol car at the intersection of 135th Street West and 29th Street North when another driver collided with her vehicle.

Her funeral at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church, 861 N. Socora, began at 11 a.m. and ended at noon.

Among those in attendance were Attorney General Derek Schmidt, Sedgwick County commissioners and Sedgwick County Sheriff Jeff Easter.

Father David Voss encouraged the community to remember Carter. Attendees bowed their heads and the sound of weeping quietly filled the room as Voss gave the eulogy.

“That’s our task for Sidnee — we have to acknowledge and accept the pain of her loss because if we don’t, we also lock away all the memories that are from our hearts as well,” Voss said.

“People ask me often . . . my heart is so hurting, when does grief end? How long does this take? Well, the real answer is grief doesn’t end. It just changes. It changes through time. And you wouldn’t want that to end because that’s where love resides. You let that change you, change you for the better, to reinvest that love and let it grow.”

“Rest in peace, Sidnee,” Voss said. “Your good deeds go with you.”

Carter was a caring person, one of the reasons she chose to go into law enforcement, Voss said. That attitude showed while she was on the bowling team at Augusta High School and when she worked at the Sedgwick County Jail for over a year.

“She made everyone else around feel like they were home,” Voss said. “Whether it was home at the bowling alley with all the kids in the summer, whether it was at the dance studio with her friends, whether it was at the detention center caring for those who didn’t see much kindness ... she cared about every heart,”

“She showed kindness to those who don’t see it. People like that don’t come very often,” Voss added.

Her funeral procession began at the church and ended at Resthaven Gardens of Memory, north of Kellogg on 119th Street West, where she was to be buried. About a hundred people lined 119th Street from Maple to Kellogg — some waving flags, others with their hands on their hearts.