thedrifter
07-26-07, 06:35 AM
He'll be remembered as a police officer at heart
Thursday, July 26, 2007
By LOUISA VALENTIN MELENDEZ and JAMES YOO
STAFF WRITERS
PATERSON -- He never wore the uniform of a police officer, but Nestor De La Rosa was sent off with all the honors of one Wednesday morning.
Officers from Boonton, as well as a single Marine, stood at attention and saluted his casket. Traffic was stopped to allow the funeral procession to continue undisturbed. Bagpipes, now a mainstay of police funerals, lent their mournful tones to final goodbyes at the cemetery.
The former Marine was a security guard making a money drop when he was killed by robbers Friday in Newark. But he was also esteemed for his devotion to safeguarding a Boonton apartment complex as a security guard since 1997.
De La Rosa's son, 24-year-old Anthony, said of his father before the funeral procession, "He was in love with the Marines and he always wanted to be a cop."
Boonton police Sgt. Royce Stafford later seconded that sentiment, saying of the police and military honors, "That's just the way he would have wanted it. That's just the way that those of us who knew him best wanted it."
The 47-year-old Paterson resident was delivering cash to Town Check Cashing when two men approached him around 9 a.m. He reached for his gun but was fatally shot in the head. Police still were searching for clues to the killers Wednesday.
The Colombian native attended high school in Paterson and served in the Marines during the 1980s. He worked as a security guard for a private security company by day and did so for a Boonton apartment complex by night. Residents at that complex recently held a candlelight vigil in his memory and described him as their guardian.
De La Rosa's nephew, Manuel Rosado, 19, of Paterson, said his uncle was a good man who always brought a little levity to the room.
"Even if you were in a bad mood, he'd make you laugh," he said outside the funeral home.
The hundred or so family and friends who had gathered at Martinez's Funeral Home on Wednesday fell silent when four police officers carried in an American flag and draped it over De La Rosa's casket. Sobs then punctuated the stillness.
"Being here today made me see just how much Nestor was loved by his community," Gloria De La Rosa of Passaic, a second cousin through marriage, said moments later. "Neighbors, family, and friends, they all loved him."
Later, a Marine would fold the flag and hand it to his family at the cemetery.
But the heartfelt sendoff could not abate the grief of many, including Oswaldo De La Rosa. The 60-year-old Passaic resident had not seen his second cousin for close to 40 years.
"It pains me to think that I didn't spend more time with my cousin," he said. "I always said to myself I would eventually call and get together with him, but work and other things always got in the way. It takes a tragedy like this one to bring everyone together. Suddenly we all have time."
E-mail: valentinmelendez@northjersey.com and yoo@northjersey.com
Ellie
Thursday, July 26, 2007
By LOUISA VALENTIN MELENDEZ and JAMES YOO
STAFF WRITERS
PATERSON -- He never wore the uniform of a police officer, but Nestor De La Rosa was sent off with all the honors of one Wednesday morning.
Officers from Boonton, as well as a single Marine, stood at attention and saluted his casket. Traffic was stopped to allow the funeral procession to continue undisturbed. Bagpipes, now a mainstay of police funerals, lent their mournful tones to final goodbyes at the cemetery.
The former Marine was a security guard making a money drop when he was killed by robbers Friday in Newark. But he was also esteemed for his devotion to safeguarding a Boonton apartment complex as a security guard since 1997.
De La Rosa's son, 24-year-old Anthony, said of his father before the funeral procession, "He was in love with the Marines and he always wanted to be a cop."
Boonton police Sgt. Royce Stafford later seconded that sentiment, saying of the police and military honors, "That's just the way he would have wanted it. That's just the way that those of us who knew him best wanted it."
The 47-year-old Paterson resident was delivering cash to Town Check Cashing when two men approached him around 9 a.m. He reached for his gun but was fatally shot in the head. Police still were searching for clues to the killers Wednesday.
The Colombian native attended high school in Paterson and served in the Marines during the 1980s. He worked as a security guard for a private security company by day and did so for a Boonton apartment complex by night. Residents at that complex recently held a candlelight vigil in his memory and described him as their guardian.
De La Rosa's nephew, Manuel Rosado, 19, of Paterson, said his uncle was a good man who always brought a little levity to the room.
"Even if you were in a bad mood, he'd make you laugh," he said outside the funeral home.
The hundred or so family and friends who had gathered at Martinez's Funeral Home on Wednesday fell silent when four police officers carried in an American flag and draped it over De La Rosa's casket. Sobs then punctuated the stillness.
"Being here today made me see just how much Nestor was loved by his community," Gloria De La Rosa of Passaic, a second cousin through marriage, said moments later. "Neighbors, family, and friends, they all loved him."
Later, a Marine would fold the flag and hand it to his family at the cemetery.
But the heartfelt sendoff could not abate the grief of many, including Oswaldo De La Rosa. The 60-year-old Passaic resident had not seen his second cousin for close to 40 years.
"It pains me to think that I didn't spend more time with my cousin," he said. "I always said to myself I would eventually call and get together with him, but work and other things always got in the way. It takes a tragedy like this one to bring everyone together. Suddenly we all have time."
E-mail: valentinmelendez@northjersey.com and yoo@northjersey.com
Ellie