The wife of a Peel Region police officer who died following a car collision while on duty gave him an emotional goodbye yesterday, calling him her hero.

Erin Ochakovsky described her husband, Constable Artem (James) Ochakovsky, as a loving husband and father.

"He loved me with indescribable love," Erin said as she fought back tears at his funeral. "He was my hero. He was my Prince Charming. He was my everything."

The service held at the Hershey Centre was attended by hundreds of police officers from across Canada and some from the U.S.

Ochakovsky died last Tuesday after a car crash in Brampton -- the first Peel officer to die in the line of duty in 25 years.

The couple had a young son, Owen, and Erin said Ochakovsky was happy he was finally at an age where they could start doing things together. She also praised him as the "kind of father that every woman dreams of."

Ontario's premier described Ochakovsky, and a second Ontario police officer who died in the line of duty less than a week later, as heroes who, like each of their colleagues, are "owed our gratitude, respect and support."

"They're the ones who keep us safe," Dalton McGuinty told the mourners. "They're the first to respond to a crisis and the last to leave the scene."

An OPP officer, Constable Vu Pham, was shot and killed Monday after pulling over a vehicle in a rural area of southwestern Ontario.

Also in the congregation yesterday were firefighters, paramedics and border guards.

"On top of what's happened to the Peel officer and so closely behind one of our own officers is killed on duty, it's very tragic," OPP Inspector Dave Lee said outside the funeral.

Ochakovsky was en route to help another officer transport an individual when his marked cruiser hit a vehicle and crashed into a light pole a week ago Monday. He died in hospital the following night.