Hundreds of officers attend trooper’s funeral
Pennsylvania State Police troopers carry the body of fellow trooper Michael P. Stewart at his funeral Tuesday at Holy Family Church in Latrobe.
Trooper Michael P. Stewart
Gov. Tom Wolf and Commissioner Tyree Blocker salute at the arrival of Trooper Michael Stewart’s casket at the Holy Family Church in Latrobe Tuesday.
The Pennsylvania State Police Honor Guard carry Trooper Michael Stewart’s casket to a waiting hearse after funeral services at the Holy Family Church in Latrobe Tuesday.
Friends and family quietly shed tears, during the funeral of Pennsylvania State Trooper Michael Stewart III, 26, at Holy Family Church in Latrobe Tuesday.
Gov. Tom Wolf talks to police officers during the funeral of Trooper Michael Paul Stewart of the Pennsylvania State Police at Holy Family Church in Latrobe Tuesday.
Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Travis November attends the funeral of his partner, Michael P. Stewart, at Holy Family Church in Latrobe Tuesday. Stewart was killed last Friday morning in nearby Ligonier, when a garbage truck pulled out in front of the cruiser he and November were riding in.
A motorcade of Pittsburgh Police motorcycles lead the way, as the funeral procession makes its way Tuesday to Unity Cemetery, passing under a flag near St. Vincent College, during the funeral of Pennsylvania State Trooper Michael Stewart III, 26, from Holy Family Church in Latrobe.
Police officers from around the country stand “at ease” during the funeral of Trooper Michael Paul Stewart, 26, at Holy Family Church in Latrobe Tuesday.
Pennsylvania State Police salute during the arrival of Trooper Michael Stewart’s casket at Holy Family Church Tuesday.
LATROBE – Hundreds of police officers from as far away as Colorado, Utah and Texas came to the funeral and procession to honor a Pennsylvania state trooper killed when his cruiser collided with a garbage truck last week.
Trooper Michael Stewart III, 26, was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash about 2:20 a.m. Friday near Ligonier. The cause is still under investigation.
“You always know that when you get an early call like that, you know it’s not going to be good,” said the Rev. Robert Byrnes, the chaplain of the Greensburg barracks where Stewart was stationed. Byrnes, speaking at Tuesday’s funeral in Latrobe, said Stewart was “truly dedicated to his oath of office.”
Two Texas troopers gave a flag that flew over that state’s Capitol to Stewart’s family.
“We’re all state troopers. When one of us falls, we all fall,” said Texas Trooper Joshua Sneed.
Stewart died a week before his 27th birthday, not far from where he grew up.
He graduated from Greater Latrobe High School in 2008 and Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 2012. He became a trooper in 2014 and was assigned to the Chambersburg area before transferring to Greensburg, whose troopers patrol the general area where he was raised.
Drums, bagpipes and hundreds of officers were part of a formal procession leading to a private interment service.
Stewart’s partner, Trooper Travis November, suffered a concussion and a hairline pelvic fracture in the crash. He attended the funeral.
Amanda Dzambo was among the citizens who watched the procession from outside her brother’s podiatry office nearby.
“I think it’s amazing seeing them all together walking up the street. I have chills to see so many people come out for another officer,” she said.