KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Friends, family and colleagues remembered fallen Kansas City, Missouri, police officer James Muhlbauer and his K-9 partner Champ at a funeral service Wednesday.
The service, held at Municipal Auditorium in downtown Kansas City, Missouri, included several speakers, including members of Muhlbauer's family, KCPD's K-9 unit, fellow officers and Chief of Police, Stacy Graves.
“These two police officers were great officers, who worked together, played together and took care of each other,” Graves said of Muhlbauer and Champ.
Muhlbauer's parents, Vern and Chris Muhelbauer, were the last to speak during the service.
“Thank you to all of those who showed us law enforcement is a family, that Jim had another family beyond our own” Vern said. “Jim was proud to be a police officer and we’re proud of him.”
Mulhbauer’s brother-in-law Chris Smith thanked everyone for supporting him and the Mulhbauer family through the loss of Jim.
“Complete strangers have come out of the woodwork and have said things to all of us as a family,” Smith said. “People that we haven’t heard from in years have said something to us and I think that speaks to how the word flows a bit and individually it impacts so many different things we forget about.”
Mulhbauer’s sister Laurie also spoke to the support that came from others after her brother death, telling the audience her brother was a selfless person and he would alway never focus the attention on him.
“He didn’t brag about himself to me, but he would always brag about his kids, his canine’s accomplishments ” Laurie said. “He would downplay his role in work like the 2014 arrest(of quintuple murderer Brandon Howell) and would always tell me he was just doing his job.”
His daughter-in-law Makenzie Nelson, who has known him since she was 4-years-old, said she came to respect his words and they mean more to her now than ever.
“I feel lucky that he treated me as his own child,” Nelson said. “I would always get a congratulatory text or something to tell me how proud he was of me.”
KCPD officer Tanner Moats served alongside Muhlbauer and his K-9 partner Champ in KCPD's K-9 unit.
Moats remembered both members of the unit.
But the loss of Muhlbauer canine partner Champ was also not forgotten by those who were close to Muhlbauer.
“When (Champ) first met me, he hit me on my hand,” Moats said. “Ever since then, it was my purpose to be his friend. So every opportunity I got to be in his presence, I took it.”
Moats said he would try and go out of his way to make sure Champ knew Moats was a friend by taking care of him when Muhlbauer would go on vacation.
Muhlbauer’s son Ayden also remembered Champ dearly and told the audience about his personal experiences with Champ.
“Champ was always scared of the little dog,” Ayden said. “After a walk(with Jim and Champ), we would always play Kong in the backyard.”
After the funeral, Muhlbauer and his partner Champ were honored with a 21-gun salute, Amazing Grave, a helicopter flyover and an end of watch broadcast in front of hundreds of law enforcement gathered outside the auditorium along W. 13th Street.
