A Funeral of a Police Officer

This Catholic church is about 3-4 blocks from my house. They are holding the funeral services of a young local police officer.

The young man was 39 years old. He didn't work in my city of Fenton, but he lived here. He worked in West Bloomfield. He and a team of policemen charged into a home of a man they believed to be suicidal. They got to a closed door, and called out his name. The man responded with a flurry of gun shots...one of them striking Officer O'Rouke.

The scene at the church was kind of surreal. The local parish is holding their annual Applefest this weekend. So...you have the happy rides and tents...set against the solemness of the funeral.

It was very moving. No matter how you feel about policemen...you do have to give them credit for standing by their own. I saw them coming in from Windsor, Ontario, and Cincinnati, Ohio. That's 300 miles away! Policemen everywhere...along with police cars...police motorcycles...police bagpipers. Even a traffic copter whirling around the skies.

Officer O'Rouke leaves a wife and four small children. The picture on the obituary page shows a big extended family at his tiny sons baptism. Sad...just so sad...that we have to witness the violence of this world. And...sometimes it hits close to home.

Tonight...the ferris wheel will be turning...the rides will be spinning...apple pie slices will be downed, and teen-aged hand-holding lovers will be hitting the midway.

One young father will be missing.