The whole metropolis of Waltham and police from throughout lined Trapelo Road to say their final goodbyes to Officer Paul Tracey, who’s life was minimize quick whereas doing his job.
An American flag flew excessive above as bagpipers led a procession of heartbroken colleagues and relations to the identical church the place Tracey received married.
“As a family, this is the hardest thing we’ve ever had to do,” Jim Tracey informed 1000’s who gathered for his brother’s funeral at Our Lady Comforter of the Afflicted Church on Friday. “Where do we begin? How do you capture in words in just a few minutes the life of a man who meant so much to so many?”
Paul Tracey, a 28-year member of the Waltham Police Department, died at age 58, “doing what he loved most, protecting and serving the citizens of Waltham,” his brother Jim stated.
Tracey’s life got here to an abrupt finish the afternoon of Dec. 6 when a person allegedly drove by means of a Waltham building web site, putting and killing him and National Grid utility employee Roderick Jackson, 36, of Cambridge.
Jim Tracey delivered a strong eulogy that lasted practically 20 minutes through which he remembered all that his brother, whom he referred to as “an advocate of the underdog,” stood for. Paul’s spouse Kristin, a faculty useful resource officer at Waltham High School, crammed the church’s entrance with their youngsters, Danika and Tyler, or “Tylah,” as Paul would name his son together with his thick Boston accent, Jim stated.
Tracey and his spouse received married at Our Lady Comforter of the Afflicted on Aug. 18, 2007, the identical venue they have been baptized and acquired first communion, stated the church’s pastor, Rev. James DiPeri.
Jim Tracey recounted Paul getting his daughter’s “very first” live performance tickets to see Taylor Swift along with her cousin Abby and the way his brother “honed” Danika as a Blackjack participant. Meanwhile, Tyler loved going to the 99 Restaurant in Woburn the place “he was able to sit at the bar with his dad, feeling like one of the big guys,” Jim chuckled.
Paul Tracey had a ardour for taking his household to the seaside through the summer time, whether or not or not it’s to York, Maine or to South Yarmouth, so his youngsters might join with their cousins. But he was simply as keen about being a police officer, a job he’d at all times be prepared to go the additional mile for, Jim stated.
In 2018, Tracey was hailed as a hero after he helped save the lifetime of a lady who overdosed on medicine on a Cape Cod seaside. Tracey was off responsibility, on a household trip, at Riviera Beach Resort in South Yarmouth when he and a cousin started CPR on the lady in misery.
“So many lives were changed forever on the evening of December 6th,” Jim Tracey stated. “Unfortunately for us, this day will always be remembered as the day that the life of a great man was cut short, a law enforcement career that ended too soon, and a husband, father, brother, uncle, godfather and friend who had so much more to give was taken from us.”
“Paul Tracey is our hero,” Jim continued. “A hero is someone who faces danger, has integrity, bravery and strength. That’s what police officers do every day, performing responsibilities that most people do not want or cannot do.”
Hundreds who couldn’t get contained in the church stood exterior listening to and watching the funeral on massive screens.
DiPeri remembered Jackson, the 36-year-old National Grid gasoline technician who died alongside Tracey on the element web site on Totten Pond Road. Jackson’s household attended Tracey’s wake on Thursday, “knowing that they have their own services for the one they grieve and love so much,” he stated.
Jackson’s providers are scheduled for Saturday at St. Paul AME Church on Bishop Allen Drive and Columbia Street in Cambridge. A wake shall be held from 9 to 11 a.m., with the funeral instantly following.
“We pray for God’s justice, God’s peace, God’s mercy to rest upon the world so that we may act as his representatives in creating a world that is safe and stable for the common good and the individual good,” the pastor stated, “so that we may live in peace so there’d be no need for unnecessary death, killing of people in any capacity, including our police officers, firefighters, and those beyond.”
The suspect, Peter Simon, 54, of Woodsville, N.H., who had a prolonged legal document previous to the incident, is being held on two counts of manslaughter and a slew of different expenses.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”