North Utah News

David Boatwright, store manager of Brigham City Ace Hardware in Utah, helped a local family after a state trooper was suddenly killed in the line of duty. 

According to Ace Hardware, Utah State Trooper Eric Ellsworth grew up in a religious family of seven. Ellsworth met his wife, Janica, in high school and they later went on to have three boys. 

One night in November of 2016, Ellsworth was called out onto a country road where a power line had gone down and was posing a threat to vehicles driving on the road. As Ellsworth was directing traffic, a young woman who had just gotten her license drove up quickly, unsure if she should slow down because the squad car lights were off and the spotlight was placed on the wire. She tried to drive around a large parked truck, and not seeing Ellsworth, she struck him with her vehicle.

Ellsworth remained on life support for five days before passing away at the hospital. During the time he was in the hospital and following his death, the community came together to help take care of his family. 

Boatwright was a friend of Ellsworth's. Ellsworth was a frequent customer at the store, and the two became acquainted there. Boatwright was contacted by Josh Carr, Ellsworth's friend and fellow officer, who told him about a to-do list that was on Ellsworth's fridge listing repairs that needed to be done around the house. 

"You get so many instances where you hear of things like this, and you feel helpless and there's nothing you can do. I wish there was something we can do. Well, here is something we can do," Boatwright said in a YouTube video interview.

Boatwright originally had other plans to help a friend with some construction, but instead, he and his son went to help Ellsworth's family by completing several items from his to-do list. Boatwright also noticed the soft water machine wasn't working properly and reached out to a company to have it replaced.

"I think Dave's got a trooper heart. I think he's one of us deep down inside," Sgt. Lee Perry said in the YouTube interview. "He may be running an Ace Hardware, but I can tell you he has the heart of a trooper, and I think he saw what needed to be done and he said, 'It's got to get done,' and he stepped up and did it."

Boatwright was present at the Ellsworth home, helping with the to-do list, when a code came across the police radio that Ellsworth had died. 

Ellsworth continued his legacy to serve and protect even after his passing. As an organ donor, his donated organs helped save the lives of five people.