March 8, 2006

People stood in the cold line for one hour, some for two hours, in order to spend one or two seconds in front of New Hartford Police Officer Joseph Corr's open casket.

There were no complaints about the cold or the wait. This was last Thursday in New Hartford at the funeral home on Oxford Road.

The line snaked around the inside of Dimbleby, Friedel, Williams & Edmunds and out the door, then west on Oxford Road to Mill Street. Someone was thoughtful enough to set up a table at the curb and give away coffee. Those without gloves used the hot cups to warm their hands.

There wasn't much talking in the line. It didn't seem appropriate.

What little conversation there was - and this was done in lowered voices - centered on how impressive it was to see the large number of police officers in the line. The officers were from every department in Central New York and from around the state. Some came from outside the state.

Near the head of the line was a retired New York City police officer, Jimmy McMann, a Utica native. He was placed on disability years ago after nearly being killed trying to apprehend a murderer inside of St. Patrick's Cathedral. At the other end of the line was a 30-something NYPD detective.

There was sniffling in the line. Maybe it was because of the cold. Maybe it was because of something else.

Lined up in the hall leading into the funeral parlor were New Hartford police officers. They thanked people for coming and said the public's support was helpful, overwhelming and appreciated. Many of them looked to be around Officer Corr's age which was 30.

At the casket mourners bowed their heads. Officer Corr was, of course, dressed in his New Hartford Police Department uniform, a job he was so proud to have. His police badge and his New Hartford Fire Department badge were pinned to his chest. Officer Corr and his family have a tradition of public service.

And so we paid our respects to an officer who was shot and killed in the line of duty and to his family who will forever more pay an awful price. It wasn't much, but those respects were all most of us could do.

I take that back. There is one other thing.

Getnick, Livingston, Atkinson, Gigliotti and Piore, with offices at 258 Genesee St., Suite 401, Utica, NY 13502, are the attorneys administering the "Kaitlyn Bobbi Corr Trust."

Officer Corr's daughter, Kaitlyn, is one year old.

There is also the Corr Memorial Fund. Jerry Putnam of Boonville, who was at the wake, has written about that fund in a letter to the editor in this weeks issue of the Boonville Herald.

On display at the funeral home was a Christmas picture of Kaitlyn on her father's back. Her mother, Tracie, is next to them. A Christmas tree is off to the side. The three of them are smiling. What a beautiful family.

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Joe Kelly is the editor and publisher of The Boonville Herald & Adirondack Tourist and THE GRIFF.