Officers, ordinary Torontonians pay respects to Const. Zivcic

Hundreds attended the visitation for Const. John Zivcic at a Toronto funeral home on Sunday, paying their respects to the young officer who was fatally injured in the line of duty last weekend.

Zivcic, 34, was involved in a collision near the intersection of Bloor Street West and Neilson Drive on the afternoon of Saturday, Nov. 30.

Two days later, police announced that he had died in hospital surrounded by members of his immediate family.

Police say that he was responding to an emergency call about an impaired driver when the crash occurred.

Zivcic had been serving with Toronto police for more than six years at the time of his death.

Mourners attended the Delmoro Funeral Home on Sunday afternoon and evening, a day before a memorial service will formally recognize Zivcics passing.

The people who attended the visitation included Chief Bill Blair, Mayor Rob Ford and his brother, Coun. Doug Ford.

The officers cousin, Rosie Jurcic, was one of the people who attended the visitation on Sunday.

"He was always very tall and towering, very gentle very kind-hearted," she told CBC Toronto.

Jurcic said "there are no words to describe" seeing so many ordinary people come to pay their respects for her cousin, some of whom had not even known him.

On Monday, a memorial service is being held in the north building of the Toronto Congress Centre at 650 Dixon Rd. It is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. and is also open to the public.