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Clements' Memorial Expected To Be Emotional

DENVER (CBS4)- The slain executive director of the Colorado Department of Corrections will be remembered in a public memorial service on Monday.

Tom Clements was laid to rest in a private ceremony with friends and family on Sunday.

The private memorial service is at 10 a.m. Monday at New Life Church in Colorado Springs. Clements was not a member of the church but his public memorial is being held there because the church is very large and they are expecting a big turnout to remember the Colorado prisons chief.

Clements was gunned down at his home in Monument on Tuesday night. The primary suspect in his murder is white supremacist gang member and parolee Evan Ebel.

Evan Ebel
Evan Ebel (credit: Dept. of Corrections)

Ebel was killed after a high-speed chase and shootout with deputies in Texas on Thursday. Shells at the shootout scene match those found at Clements home.

Ebel is also considered a suspect in the murder of Nathan Leon, a pizza delivery man who was shot and killed March 17. A pizza uniform and pizza holder were found in the car driven by Ebel.

Clements was in charge of 25 correctional facilities, thousands of inmates and 6,000 employees.

Colleagues said Clements was aware that his job was inherently dangerous.

"He had a deep and abiding belief and devotion and love for corrections," said Clements colleague Alison Morgan.

She described him as a man with a keen sense of humor. He once bet Morgan that an issue would come up in a meeting sooner than later.

"And he found me in the back of the room and you could see that smile on his face and the twinkle in his eye that said, 'Gotcha! I knew it,'" said Morgan. "It's one of those memories that's really helped me through the day."

Many memories are expected to be told at Clements' memorial service.

Gov. John Hickenlooper is scheduled to attend and speak at the memorial.

Hickenlooper knew Clements and the man suspected of killing him. He knew Jack Ebel, Ebel's father, when he was geologist and Evan when he was a boy.

"I mean from the beginning his son just seemed to have this bad streak, a streak of cruelty and anger," said Hickenlooper on CNN Sunday morning.

He said Ebel's parents went to great lengths to help their son.

"They worked with Evan, again and again but to no avail. He just, he had a bad, bad streak," said Hickenlooper.

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