Pennsylvania State Trooper Martin F. Mack III will be laid to rest today, and thousands, including a huge contingent of law enforcement, have gathered on Levittown Parkway to give him a hero’s sendoff.
The funeral Mass has ended at St. Michael the Archangel Church in Tullytown, and the funeral procession to the cemetery in Middletown is underway with hundreds of vehicles escorting the hearse carrying body of the 33-year-old father of two.
Mack was killed in a March 21 crash on Interstate 95 in South Philadelphia that also claimed the life of State Trooper Branden Sisca, 29, and a pedestrian from Allentown whom the troopers were escorting to their vehicle when all three men were struck. The 21-year-old driver was speeding and under the influence, police said, and has since been charged with homicide and other related offenses.
“Marty and Branden Sisca were not heroes because of the way they died,” said Delaware State Police Cpl. Paul LaPlaca, a close friend since college. “They’re heroes because of the way they lived. There are thousands of officers all across the country risking their lives, responding to shootings, domestic complaints, traffic collisions, medical emergencies, because we all know, the radio never stops. People will continue to call us for help. Marty and Brendan answered that call.”
The thousands of police in attendance at the Mass saluted and bagpipes played as Mack’s flag-draped casket was carried into the church just before 11 a.m., his wife Stephanie and daughters, Olivia and Rowan, and other family members and friends walking behind.
The girls held their mother’s hands and the couple’s oldest daughter cuddled into her as they walked into the church. American flags and flags from each state with law enforcement present waved on the windy morning as gray clouds hung heavy overhead.
State troopers, hats in hand, walked single-file into the church, filling the rows of pews behind the family.
Stephanie Mack would later remember her husband in a eulogy that highlighted a life together filled with friends, family, fun times and service to community.
“Everyone will keep your memory the way they need to,” she said. “I will remember my hero as an amazing father, my best friend, and my filter. My sounding board. My husband. The girls were lucky to have you, even if their time is cut short. You are a hell of a man, and I cannot express how much I will miss you. How much your squad will miss you.”
Before the Mass, Route 13 came to a complete standstill for about 30 minutes as motorcycle officers led the procession from Wade Funeral Home in Bristol Borough to the church. Thousands of police, fire, and emergency medical services squads followed.
Police from across the nation converged on the borough and Lower Bucks, where many flags are at half staff, in preparation for the procession to the church. Fire crews are blocking off streets in much of Bristol to clear the way.
More:PA state trooper from Bristol who was killed in line of duty on I-95 remembered as dad, Truman coach
As the Mass began, the Rev. Dennis Mooney, pastor of St. Mark Church in Bristol Borough, where the Mack family worshipped, said “one of the most touching things” he saw Thursday was the hundreds of people lining the streets between the funeral home and the church.
“There were so many people lining the streets and the highways, with their hands on their hearts, saluting their brother,” he said as he opened Mass. “It was a great love and honor and tribute shown by them to this wonderful man.”
The funeral, and gathering outside the church by community members, were a continuation of the viewing for Mack that drew over a thousand people to Bristol on Wednesday. Some 5,000 law enforcement officers, including from departments all over the country, were expected to attend the Mass and funeral procession from the church to Our Lady of Grace cemetery in Middletown.
Road restrictions are now in place along the route in Lower Bucks, including in Middletown and Lower Makefield, and near the Route 1 Superhighway.
During the Mass, Mooney described the “shock, the confusion, the unreal situation” of the day of Mack’s death, and of arriving at the family’s house.
Addressing Mack’s wife Stephanie, Mooney said: “I don’t know how you handled it. No words could every bring healing, lessen the pain on losing a faithful husband, a loving father, a wonderful son, a nephew, a friend, a frat brother, a member of the Pennsylvania state troopers. A young man loved by so many people.”
He would later offer more comfort.
“The love of Marty is still with you, Steph,” Mooney said. “His love is immortal.”
“I know as a child growing up as a father, it was difficult at many times,” said Mooney. “This is why we need our faith and our family and our friends to hold us together in these tragic times.”
Due to the size of the crowd, the Mass was livestreamed to the crowd outside and online. A large screen was set up in the church parking lot well ahead of the Mass. Crowds began lining the sidewalks near the church early.
They listened as Mooney spoke, some in lawn chairs, of the sacrifice the troopers made in the line of duty.
“The urgency of that call to him and officer Brendan Sisca, when they heard that call this man was in danger, they ran to save him,” he said. “They themselves had no greater love than this. They laid down their lives and gave all they possibly could give. Doing what they were called to do in service of others, in protection of others.”
After the Mass ended, family and mourners, some wearing green, white and orange Irish sashes, streamed from the church. The wind picked up, snapping a row of flags at the front of a phalanx of perhaps 500 law enforcement officers. They stood motionless and silent. An order was shouted, then another, indecipherable in the blustery winds that swept across the parking lot, where the polished hearse was gleaming black even under gray skies.
A third order was shouted, and this time officers holding an array of a dozen flags lifted them high. The lead of the State Police bagpiper brigade shouted “Going Home!” and the pipes and drums played. Trooper Mack’s flag draped casket was carried from St. Mike’s and slid into the hearse.
The 500 officers saluted in unison, and slowly lowered their gloved hands.
Dozens of residents and supporters lined the sidewalks along Levittown Parkway, waiting for the procession.
Motorcycle engines fired, cracking the air, signaling the start. Police lights blazed. A final order was given and the bikes left the parking lot, rumbled out and up the Parkway, escorting the hearse and Trooper Mack’s family to Our Lady of Grace cemetery.
Debra Pine, of Levittown, sat in a lawn chair with a small American flag and took it all in. She came to her friends house to sit out and watch the procession as a sign of a respect. “It’s a must,” she said.
Officers do so much to keep people safe, she noted.
“Any time there’s a fallen officer, you should pay your respects, one way or another.”
Marty Sullivan, of Levittown, wanted to be among those who paid respects. He walked from his home to the church. “Why did I walk from Lakeside? It’s simple. He gave his life protecting the rest of us,” said Sullivan, a retired GM millwright and Vietnam veteran.
Less than a mile from the church, Shawn Oechsle, of Levittown, adjusted a small American flag behind his home in the Stonybrook section along the Levittown Parkway, where the funeral procession will pass later today
Oechsle is a second-generation Philadelphia police officer who said he is was hoping to see the procession pass his home. “But I have work at 1:30 today,” he said. “I think my sergeant will understand if I’m a little late.”
Kyle Bickel was also at the church early to honor Mack.
He drove more than eight hours from Columbus, Ohio, with his two sons, Bentley and Hunter, to show his support to the families. The deaths of the two state troopers hit home, as Bickel lost his own step-uncle, a Los Angeles police officer, in a line of duty death.
“The emotions run high when you hear an officer has fallen. We’re here to let them know we’re here for them every step of the way,” said Bickel.
More:Police charge driver with DUI, murder in I-95 crash that killed two PA state troopers
Mack, a graduate of Monsignor Bonner High School and Albright College, joined the Pennsylvania State Police in November 2014 and graduated as a member of the 141st cadet class. He would spend his career with Patrol Section of Troop K, which covers Philadelphia.
When not with family or on patrol, Mack found time in recent years to be the assistant coach of the lacrosse team at Truman High School in Bristol Township and serve in the U.S. Army National Guard.
Before the funeral, Dan Halley, of Tullytown, walked with a flag over his shoulder to show his respect for Mack and all officers in the country. He said he was taken aback by how many police officers were out showing respect.“We’ve never had anything like this,” he said. “It’s quite overwhelming.”
Police from all over, including Pennsylvania locations such Altoona and Cumberland County, and out of state officers from areas like Iowa and Virginia, came to show their respect.
“It kind of takes your breath away,” Halley said.
Byron Striker peeked over his fence, waiting to catch the procession for Mack. Striker said he’s part of a motorcycle club that honors law enforcement.
Striker, whose been involved in police funerals as part of the club for about 10 years, said he’s never seen any turnout like this before. “This is big, this is really huge,” he said. “I think it’s amazing, the turnout.”
Services for Sisca will be Friday and Saturday in western Montgomery County, where he lived.
Please check back later as we will be covering the funeral of Trooper Mack throughout the day.
