Area police and friends remember Youngstown Capt. Kenneth Centorame

YOUNGSTOWN — Dozens of area police officers and community members bid a final farewell Thursday to a longtime member of local law enforcement.

Funeral services for Capt. Kenneth Centorame were held in St. Matthias Church on the city’s South Side. Centorame had been a member of the Youngstown Police department, joining the department in 1975 and moving through the ranks to captain.

Centorame died late last week following a battle with leukemia. He was 56.

Officers from departments across the Valley came to the church to say goodbye to the long-time officer with prayer and hymns. Dozens of marked and unmarked police cars line the perimeter of the church.

Bagpipes played as Centorame was carried from the church to a waiting car. A procession including marked cars from Youngstown State University, Austintown, Canfield, Ohio State Highway Patrol, Mahoning County Sheriff’s Department and four dozen civilian cars followed the car carrying his body through the lower South Side and downtown.

Most in attendance said Centorame will be remembered for his service to the community and the example he set as an individual.

Read more in Friday’s Vindicator and Vindy.com