Newly Dedicated Highway Seeks Smiles With Its Miles

ORDWAY, Colo. (CBS4) -- Roads are designed to convey cars. Not emotions.

Tim Ricard is hoping that changes for a select few people after today.

Six miles of highway between two small, southeastern Colorado towns was renamed Friday in honor of his wife.

"I hope that as someone drives on that highway," Ricard spoke to an audience, "they will think of Mary, smile, and take a moment to consider how they might be able to help someone today."

Mary Ricard was murdered in 2012.

Ricard spoke to a group including Colorado Department of Corrections workers. Mary's colleagues. Mary was a sergeant at the CDOC's Arkansas Valley Correctional Facility in Ordway for nine years.

One day in 2012, while supervising the preparation of breakfast for inmates, she and another officer were attacked. The other office survived.

The inmate charged with her murder has pleaded insanity, according to the Pueblo Chieftain.

In a press release, the CDOT stated that Mary Ricard shared her passion for cooking with the inmates. She hoped the practice and skills they learned inside the facility would stay with them once on the outside.

"Mary was a cherished employee who felt a calling to serve, and tragically her life was taken while she was trying to help people change their lives and find redemption," said Colorado Department of Corrections Executive Director, Dean Williams. "We are so happy that her legacy and her sacrifice will continue to live on in the community through the dedication of this memorial highway."

There is a new sign on the shoulder of Highway 207 between Manzanola and Crowley.

It's now a road imbued with memories.

Tim Ricard hopes it will be an avenue of smiles.