Steinbrenner charity to pay for education of slain NYPD officer’s son

Rafael Ramos, one of two New York Police Department officers killed when they were ambushed by a gunman on Saturday, left behind two sons -- Jaden Ramos, 13, and Justin Ramos, who is a freshman at Bowdoin College in Maine.

Both of them will have their educations paid for in full, thanks in part to a foundation started by late New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner in 1982.

The Silver Shield Foundation has offered to fund the education of Ramos’ sons. However, Bowdoin president Barry Mills said Sunday that the college would provide full financial aid for Justin Ramos, according to the New York Daily News.

Ramos’ partner, Wenjian Liu, who also died in the shooting, had no children.

Jaden Ramos made news over the weekend with his heartbreaking Facebook posts following his father’s death.

“Today I had to say bye to my father,” he wrote. “He was their [sic] for me everyday of my life, he was the best father I could ask for. It’s horrible that someone gets shot dead just for being a police officer. Everyone says they hate cops but they are the people that they call for help. I will always love you and I will never forget you. RIP Dad.”

The Silver Shield Foundation has paid for the education of more than 800 children of slain police officers and firefighters since Steinbrenner started it using the proceeds from one Yankees home game a year.

“There would be no Silver Shield Foundation without George Steinbrenner,” foundation chairman William G. Walters said. “He believed that these people were underpaid and made our lives possible.”

Walters added that the Yankees are still “very generous donors.”

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