As they do every year, the Massachusetts Law Enforcement Memorial Foundation held a solemn ceremony on Thursday, when the list of Bay State officers killed in the line of duty was sadly expanded by four names.
This year’s memorial, the 35th, saw a pair of officers who died more than a century ago and two who died this decade remembered.
“Today we pay tribute in grateful memory to the Commonwealth’s 410 fallen officers, and the four new-inscribed names on the memorial. We do so with respect, and gratitude for those who courageously answered the call to protect and serve and we reaffirm our commitment to never forget those who made the ultimate sacrifice,” Gov. Maura Healey said.
Newburyport Special Police Officer Alexander Griffin, a Civil War Veteran, died on July 20, 1879, two weeks after he had sustained injuries in a confrontation with an unruly suspect on the Fourth of July. He was 59 when he died.
Beverly Patrolman Daniel McClean died on June 14, 1911, while walking his beat. An unlit streetlamp caught his attention, and when he touched the electrified pole he was killed instantly. He was 38 when he died. A pair of his great-grand daughters attended the memorial on Thursday.
Essex County Deputy Sheriff Anthony Pasquarello died on December 8, 2021, after contracting COVID-19 at work. Pasquarello, “a guy who made a tough job look easy,” was 37 at the time of his death. Dozens of his family members were present.
Waltham Patrolman Paul Tracy was killed on December 6, 2023, while working a traffic detail. Tracy was killed after Peter Simon, 54, of Woodsville, New Hampshire, was alleged to have deliberately driven his vehicle into Tracy and National Grid Employee Roderick Jackson. Tracy was 58 years old when he was murdered. Tracy’s family, including his wife, fellow Waltham Officer Kristin Tracey, were in attendance.
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