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June 17, 1999
DNR official remembered as heroBy GUY PRIEL Journal Staff Writer SPRINGFIELD -- In the mid 1980s a country music singer wrote a song that asked "Why do the heroes die so young?" With flags flying at half mast, residents of Springfield gathered along the streets to watch a three-mile long funeral procession as a local hero was laid to rest. A hero who, according to one of the funeral speakers, died before he had had a chance to live. Grant Coyour, 43, was remembered throughout Springfield, the region and the state as about 600 people gathered at the church to say goodbye to a man who had called Springfield home for many years. Those in attendance included DNR Commissioner Allen Garber, Deputy Commissioner Steve Morse, Assistant Commissioner Kurt Ulrich and police and sheriff representatives from 18 different departments. "Grant was a badge-wearing, gun-carrying peace officer who was killed while on a wildlife mission and became a hero for all of us," funeral speaker Tony Cornish said. "He was a model peace officer who loved his job." There are never any easy answers, but all the law enforcement officers knew what it meant to give your life in the line of duty, Cornish said. "He knew what he represented and was dedicated to his career; and although he is dead,his profession lives," Cornish said. Dozens of law enforcement people attended the service in uniform, wearing many styles of patches representing different duties. All of them had something in common, a speaker said. They were all aware of the possibility that they would give their lives in the line of duty, thus paying the ultimate price for their profession, just as Coyour had. One Springfield resident, Mabel Patterson, who had gathered near the church to watch the procession said she remembered Coyour as being a very dedicated and considerate man. "The town and the State of Minnesota are better for having known Grant, but his loss will forever be felt here in Springfield," she said. Coyour was a resident of Bemidji at the time of his death on June 11, when his plane went down while he was conducting an aerial moose telemetry survey over the Red Lake Wildlife Management Area near Baudette in Lake of the Woods County. Following the service at the church, the procession made its way through town to the City Cemetery, where they were greeted by the haunting melodies of "Amazing Grace" played by members of the Minnesota Pipes and Drums of Inver Grove Heights. During the ceremony, there was a military helicopter fly-over and a 14-gun salute. Coyour was born in Fairmont in 1954 and moved to Springfield in 1963, where he graduated from Springfield High School. Throughout his career in law enforcement, he served with the Redwood County Sheriff's Office, as a conservation officer with the Department of Natural Resources in Moose Lake and was also a pilot with the DNR. While he was living in Moose Lake, he served on the DNR's personal watercraft task force, where he trained other law enforcement agencies and young people about the safe operation of personal watercraft. He also worked for a short time with the DNR's Marine Unit in Duluth and was a member of the Minnesota Army National Guard. A separate service was held in Harbor Springs, Michigan, for the family of Coyour's fellow worker on the Minnesota Moose Research Project, Eric Cox, 29. His remains will be cremated and his ashes will be spread over the Red Lake Wildlife Management Area.
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