MOUNT VERNON — As 18-year-old Edward Wayne saluted with his right hand, he wiped away tears with his left.

Wayne, who is training to become an officer with the Tulalip Tribe’s Police Department, was gathered with thousands of mourners Tuesday in Burlington for a memorial service in honor of fallen Skagit County Sheriff’s Deputy Anne Jackson. Like a number of those who attended the service, Wayne had never met Jackson, but her death, and the words of those who loved her, moved him to tears nonetheless.

“I wish I could have met her,” Wayne said after the service. “It was her love of animals that really touched me.”

Viki Schimke boarded a bus to Jackson’s memorial service in traditional horse riding clothes — a white striped blouse, a tailored coat and a black hat. She dressed in the equestrian garb, she said, in honor of her former student.

The equestrian teacher met Jackson more than a decade ago, when Jackson came for horse riding lessons at her house in Bow. Jackson had moved up to Washington from California with her beloved horse, “Imagine That,” nicknamed “Image.”

Tucked under Schimke’s left arm on her way to Jackson’s funeral was a wooden frame with a collage of Jackson and Image. Schimke said she made the collage because she wanted people at the memorial service to know more about Jackson.

In one photo, Jackson stood in a hole beneath a log jump on an equestrian track with her hands together and her head bowed.

“She is praying for lightning to strike it, so she wouldn’t have to jump it the next day,” Schimke said as she laughed. “This was typical Anne. She was a character.”

While she was an equestrian student Jackson worked as a barista, and spent her extra money and time training at Schimke’s home in Bow for equestrian competitions.

“She worked hard,” Schimke said.

Jackson frequently won first place in regional and national championships, something Schimke attributes to her love of horses.

“She only asked her horses, she never forced,” Schimke said.

Later, Jackson became a warden, looking after horses on a ranch. When the opportunity to become the Skagit County Sheriff’s Office’s first animal control officer came along, she couldn’t resist. A few years later, Jackson wanted to do more to help the vulnerable victims in the county, so she became a deputy.

The last time Schimke saw Jackson, her friend was in training for the deputy position.

A Sheriff’s Office car pulled up to Schimke’s house, and Jackson got out of the driver’s seat in a deputy’s uniform.

“Can you believe they gave me this shiny car?” Schimke recalled Jackson asking.

Schimke, who was standing on a ladder at the time, said she nearly fell off, but then said, “Yes, because I know what you did with a funny little horse.”

Schimke blotted the involuntary tears that came with telling the story.

“For those of us who knew her the most, we’ll miss her,” she said. “But it’s the people that she would have helped out — those are the ones that have really missed out.”

Students at Burlington-Edison High School were let out of school early Tuesday, to make way for Jackson’s memorial. Three students stayed behind, though, to watch their public servant’s funeral. None had met her.

“It’s a big deal,” said 17-year-old Christian Aguilar. “I can understand that it’s tragic and to pay respect is important to me.”

Sandy Klineburger came to the memorial from Bellingham. She was driving south on Interstate 5 on Sept. 2 when the shootings occurred, and saw a car drive off the road. She didn’t realize until she got home what happened. She said she believes that car was the one driven by another of the shooting victims.

“It’s heart breaking, everything that happened that could have been prevented some way or another,” Klineburger said. “But the show of support for the family of Anne is just amazing. Seeing the police from all over. Washington. Canada. All of the support for the family is wonderful. It’s a tragedy that it had to happen.”

Another audience member, LaDonna Hebert, drove alone from Issaquah to watch the service for Jackson, who she had never met. Hebert’s father served as a police officer in Seattle for 41 years, and she is training to become one.

Hebert said she goes to every funeral for officers who die in the line of duty in the area to support the greater law enforcement family.

“The biggest thing is that the law enforcement group is a closer group than any you will encounter,” said Candice Duclos, a Seattle law student, who has worked as a dispatcher and police officer.

Duclos worked with Jackson while serving as a cadet, a program for high school students in Skagit County.

“She was the nicest, most genuine, caring person,” Duclos said.

Melanie Tallosi, a friend who had worked with Jackson while she was a ranch warden, said the service would have overwhelmed the down-to-earth deputy.

“Anne wouldn’t have imagined this would have all been just for her,” Tallosi said.

Tahlia Ganser can be reached at 360-416-2148 or at tganser @skagitvalleyherald.com.

This story includes material from staff writer Elliott Wilson.