Hundreds attend funeral for Polson state trooper

The Associated Press

POLSON - Hundreds of people attended the funeral Wednesday for a 41-year-old Montana Highway Patrol trooper who drowned after saving his dog after it fell in an irrigation canal.

About 200 policemen, firefighters, troopers, and ambulance crews from across the state mourned the death of Chris Hoyt. They were joined by hundreds of other people during a ceremony in Polson Thursday. Hoyt died Sunday.

Authorities say Hoyt and his girlfriend were on a walk with his dog when it fell in a canal near Skyline Drive south of Polson. Hoyt was unable to pull himself out of the water after saving his dog.

Hoyt is the fourth active patrolman the Kalispell district has lost in 22 months. The three other troopers died in car crashes while on patrol. The most recent death, that of Trooper Michael Haynes, was caused by a drunk driver.

Col. Mike Tooley, chief administrator of the Montana Highway Patrol, said Haynes' death prompted Hoyt to try to get at least one drunk driver off the roads during each of his shifts.

"He was what everyone should expect in a law enforcement officer, and I'm convinced a big reason the Lake County fatality rate has been reduced substantially in recent years," Tooley said.

Hoyt was sworn in as a trooper on Jan. 2, 2003.

He is survived by three sons, ages 17, 14 and 10.

"He put us first with every decision he ever made," Hoyt's son Traven said in a letter read by a trooper.

Those who knew Hoyt said he wanted to be a trooper since he was a teenager. He was working in construction when he decided to go to the Montana Law Enforcement Academy in 2002.

"He knew he'd make less money," Tooley said. "He knew he'd have to keep uncertain hours. He knew he'd be putting his life on the line."