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Over 50 uniformed police officers lined the steps at the church to salute Kevin Kennedy, 58, who shot himself in the head Tuesday outside his home at Bethel’s Plumtree Heights condo complex. Police had been called to the scene to talk to a distraught Kennedy, who retired last year after 34 years of service, police said.
In his eulogy, Bethel Police Capt. Robert Cedergren urged members of the law enforcement community to seek help if they are depressed, according to the News-Times.
"Our officers and their families are devastated by this loss," said a statement from the Bethel Police Department. "Our thoughts and prayers are with the entire Kennedy family."
Officers from police departments from throughout Connecticut attended the calling hours and funeral service for Kennedy.
This was the second suicide in recent weeks involving a police officer. In May, Westport police Sgt. Bob Myer killed himself in his Newtown home. His family is working to prevent more suicides.
Kennedy is survived by his wife, Eunice (Purdie) Kennedy; his son, Raymond P. Kennedy, of Bethel; his daughter, Colleen E. Kennedy, of Bethel; his brother, David Kennedy and his wife, Donna, of Stratford; three sisters, Elizabeth Sharman and her husband, Charles, of Oxford, Kathleen Kennedy and her partner, Paula Maionchi, M.D., of Richmond, Ky., and Ann L. Kennedy of San Francisco; and several nieces, nephews and a great-niece.
Memorial donations may be made to the Bethel Police Benevolent Association, PO Box 142, Bethel, CT 06801 or the Bethel Volunteer Fire Department, PO Box 47, Bethel, CT 06801.
Click here to read the story at the News-Times on the funeral.
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