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OREM — Thursday morning, thousands filled the UCCU Arena at Utah Valley University for the funeral of fallen border agent Nicholas Ivie.
The funeral caps off a week of services and memorials in Arizona that took place throughout the week. In Orem, the funeral program began at 11 a.m., and a processional is expected to take place in the afternoon on I-15 to Spanish Fork and then to the Spanish Fork Cemetery, for Ivie's internment.
In attendance besides family and friends of Ivie, were law enforcement agents from all over Utah and Arizona.
Ivie, 30, was killed last Tuesday when he and two other U.S. Border Patrol agents responded to a tripped motion sensor on the Arizona-Mexico border. According to investigators, Ivie thought his co-workers were armed smugglers and fired at them. The other agents returned fire and killed Ivie in what the FBI calls a friendly fire shooting.
At the entrance of the UCCU Center, photographs showed Ivie as a teenager in Provo, and with his wife and two young daughters. Three of his cousins prepared and monitored the table. They said it is hard to comprehend the position the family was in Thursday.
"In our wildest dreams we never would imagine," said Lori Johnson, a cousin of the fallen agent. "You always hear (things like this) on TV and you think ‘that poor family.' We never ever imagined we would go through this."
We know where he is and so it helps us, and be at peace with (his death).
–- Jen Jones, cousin
Friends and family said the day was "a very tender and emotional time for all of us," and that their pain was eased because they "know that (we) will see Nick again."
"We know where he is and so it helps us, and be at peace with (his death)," said cousin Jen Jones. "And we're very proud of Christy and the strong woman she is, and we're here for her and the rest of Nick's family."
Deputy Commissioner David Aguilar worked with Ivie for the Border Patrol. He and superior officers said Ivie was compassionate in his service.
"I can tell you That every border patrol agent that worked with that, was proud and ready to serve with him," Aguilar said.
"I learned he was tenacious, I learned that he was strong-willed, and as passionate as he was with his family he was with his fellow agents," said U.S. Border Patrol Chief Michael Fisher.
Ivie was an avid horseman, and patrolled the border on horseback. Many of those who knew him will always remember him that way.
"On the night of this tragedy, Nick was doing what he loved to do," Aguilar said.
People KSL spoke to who grew up with Ivie said that even though they hadn't spoken to him in years, he made an impact on their lives that will last forever. They described him as someone who was quick to smile and always happy.
"He was always really quiet, but super, super sweet," said Amanda Romney, who knew him in his youth. "You just knew he was a kind kid."
Ivie leaves behind a wife, Christy, and two young daughters, ages 4, and 20 months old.
