‘He had a pure heart’: Fallen MPD Officer Kendall Corder’s best friend remembers the man behind the badge

The flowers and balloons are visible at the growing memorial outside Milwaukee Police Department (MPD) District 2. So are the cards and stuffed animals.

What cannot be seen are all the prayers that were said there, the hugs that were shared, or the tears that were shed for Officer Kendall Corder, from perfect strangers and from those who knew him best.

While most in Milwaukee are mourning Corder the police officer, Nilsa Arce is mourning her blood brother.

Arce told CBS 58 News, “We fought like brother and sister. But we loved like brother and sister, as well.”

They met in high school when Corder was 16. “We had game nights, family dinners. He was a son to my mother; he was the uncle to my babies.”

Arce said she watched him grow and mature over the years. “The one thing I can say that has never changed: he was always there for everybody. He was there for his friends, for his grandmother. He loved his nieces and nephews.”

They talked every day and hung out every day. Last fall Corder vacationed in Cancun with Arce and her husband.

She said he loved everyone; that everyone was family, either by blood or choice.

One of those friends is Tee Nguyen, the owner of Corder’s favorite Vietnamese restaurant.

Nguyen told CBS 58 News, “This is the longest, toughest day for me. For myself, and all my coworkers, my employees.”

For four years, Corder visited Nguyen once a week. First in West Allis, then when he opened BaoBao Vietnamese Cuisine in Milwaukee.

“When he came here, everyone knew him. He didn’t need a menu, we know what he wanted. And he’s one of the most favorite customers,” Nguyen said.

Corder always ordered a P2 special, with extra brisket and extra everything really, and a pitcher of water all for himself.

On Sunday, after Corder died, Nguyen made his favorite meal and set a place for him in the restaurant.

“He is beyond my customer,” he told us. “A friend. I feel very bad.”

Nilsa Arce was at that meal.

She said Corder talked about wanting to be an officer long before he pursued it. She fought back tears as she said, “When he got into it, he was proud of, he was proud of being MPD.”

But she also said he was much more than that. “He had a pure heart, and he had a lot of love to still give…if he was here today.”

She said Kendall Corder’s closest friends loved him for the man he was behind the badge.

“He was our family; he was our brother. He was a nephew, he was a son,” Arce said. “People need to realize that.”

And she added, “This hurt a lot of people. A lot of people. And we’re going to be grieving and we’re going to be mourning, and he deserved better.”