(CENTRALIA, IL) — Members of the community lined the streets from Centralia to Carlyle to pay tribute to the 22-year-old Marion County correctional officer killed in a traffic crash Wednesday on a snow and ice covered Interstate 57. Adam Conrad, who was also a Sandoval firefighter, was ushered to his final rest by a parade of squad cars, fire trucks and ambulances driven by the men and women with whom he served the community. Adam’s visitation Saturday at The Rock Church in Centralia had to be extended from its scheduled five hours to 10 hours, as more than a thousand mourners paid their condolences to his family, and a steadfast Honor Guard with the Marion County Sheriff’s Department stood by the casket throughout the service that began at 3 p.m. and ended just before midnight. Marion County Sheriff Rich Stevenson said his deputies trained for two days in preparation to honor their fallen brother. It is believed Adam was the first Marion County Sheriff’s Department employee to die in the line of duty. Stevenson says Adam died doing a job he loved, and as an organ donor Adam will live on in others.

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