Blue ribbons, flags honor Newman’s fallen Cpl. Ronil Singh ahead of funeral
Downtown Newman is awash in blue as the community prepares to honor its fallen hero.
Volunteers have been putting up blue ribbons — blue is the color honoring law enforcement — along Main Street in advance of a visitation Friday for Police Cpl. Ronil Singh, who died early in the morning of Dec. 26 after being shot while investigating a suspected drunk driver. The suspect in the case, Paulo Virgen Mendoza, was arrested Dec. 28 and is facing murder charges.
A procession carrying Singh’s body is set to go from Modesto to Newman on Friday morning. An honor guard visitation will be held at the West Side Theatre on Main Street from 9 a.m. to noon. Newman’s City Hall will be closed from 8 to 10 a.m. so staff can attend.
Another procession will return the body from Newman to Salas Brothers Funeral Chapel in Modesto, where visitation will be held from 5 to 9 p.m. Friday.
A public funeral service will be held Saturday at 10 a.m. at CrossPoint Community Church in downtown Modesto. Hundreds of people are expected to attend, including a law enforcement turnout of 1,300 to 1,400 people.
Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Deputy Royjindar Singh, a spokesman for the department and no relation to the fallen corporal, said he expects law enforcement representatives from all 58 California counties and throughout the western United States. He said he has taken calls from law enforcement from as far away as Texas, New York and Florida asking about accommodations, nearest airports and other travel-related inquiries.
Needham Avenue and several adjacent streets will be closed for parking starting early Saturday. After the funeral service, estimated to end about 11:30 a.m., a final procession will take Singh’s body to its final resting place at Lakewood Memorial Park in Hughson.
That procession will go down 11th Street to D Street and out Yosemite Boulevard to Santa Fe Avenue.
A graveside service will be held at Lakewood, beginning at 1 p.m. Both the funeral and the graveside services will be live-streamed on the Sheriff’s Department’s Facebook page. The Modesto Bee also will carry events live on its Facebook page and will have updated coverage at modbee.com throughout Friday and Saturday.