“Heroes Live Forever” - the story of Colorado Corrections Sergeant Mary K. Ricard
She traded the apron of a pastry chef for life behind the walls as a corrections officer. For nearly a decade she fulfilled her dream - she was making a difference. A brutal attack ended it all.
Corrections Sgt. Mary K. Ricard
McLean, VA (September 29, 2026) - Before she ever wore a badge, Mary Ricard wore an apron. She walked away from a successful career as a pastry chef because she wanted more — she wanted to impact lives. So she joined the Colorado Department of Corrections, worked her way up to Sergeant, and spent nine years standing the line that most people never see, between the public and those deemed too dangerous to walk free. On September 24th, 2012, at the Arkansas Valley Correctional Facility she was fatally stabbed in the neck by a convicted child rapist while supervising breakfast food preparation. She was 55 years old. She left behind a husband and four children.
In this episode of Heroes Live Forever, we tell the full story of Sergeant Mary Katherine Ricard — the woman who traded a pastry chef’s dream for a corrections officer’s badge, the savage attack that took her life, what happened to the man who killed her, and the voices of law enforcement brothers and sisters across the country who have been writing to her memory for over a decade. Colorado Highway 207 now bears her name. 223 reflections have been left on her Officer Down Memorial Page.
Listen to the podcast to hear the remarkable story of Mary Ricard: https://behindbadge.substack.com/p/heroes-live-forever-the-story-of-5c5
