The masked woman stood in her driveway, safely distanced from other onlookers but with her dog Ruby, 11, a German shorthaired pointer, by her side.
Ruby actually was Dave Werksman’s dog. She adored him. And he adored her.
The woman, Kristin Werksman, wore black as she watched the procession briefly stop outside her house in Corona around 2:30 p.m. on Friday, April 3.
The body of Dave Werksman, a Riverside County Sheriff’s deputy who died the day before from complications caused by COVID-19, was in a white van that was transporting him from the Riverside County Coroner’s Office in Perris to a mortuary near his home.
The long procession of motor deputies and other members of law enforcement stopped for several minutes in front of the Werksman residence to allow Kristin to see her husband’s final ride.
Kristin, having tested positive for COVID-19, remains under quarantine. She watched in silence as honor guards saluted her.
In addition to losing her husband of nearly seven years, Kristin, for now, has lost the ability to have physical contact with loved ones – she has two children from a previous marriage — and friends.
She lost physical contact with Dave after she dropped him off at an emergency room when his fever spiked on Sunday, March 29.
That was the last time Kristin saw him.