For Officer Leo, a solemn farewell
Slain Officer Funeral
Funeral services for slain Girard police officer Justin Leo were held today at YSU. Thousands of fellow officers, friends and family attended.
Justin Leo Funeral
Thousands payed last respects to slain Girard police officer Justin Leo during funeral serviecs on the YSU campus today.
By Bob Jackson
YOUNGSTOWN
It was a stirring scene when nearly 1,000 police officers rose to their feet, saluted and stood at unified attention as a coffin carrying the body of slain Girard police Officer Justin Leo was brought into Beeghly Center on Sunday.
Officer Leo’s parents, Pat and David Leo, followed closely behind the flag-draped coffin as it was placed near the center of the floor of the Youngstown State University auditorium, which became a quiet cathedral for Officer Leo’s funeral service. As is customary for police funerals, bagpipes played while the coffin was being moved and placed in position.
The service included readings and remembrances from Officer Leo’s family and friends, including his boss, Girard Police Chief John Norman.
“It’s been a tough week, a tough few days,” Norman said in an anguished voice. Several times during his remarks, Norman paused to gather himself. “It’s times like these that make us wonder why we do this. The reason is that we all want to make a difference. In their most desperate times, people want us there, and we want to be there.”
Norman lamented that Leo’s name will now be carved into the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, D.C., and cited these words that are etched there: “It is not how these officers died that made them heroes, it is how they lived.”
Hundreds of law-enforcement officials and officers, representing jurisdictions all across Ohio and surrounding states, filled the stands on the west side of the auditorium to honor their fallen brother. Before concluding his remarks, Norman asked all of them to stand, and then asked Mr. and Mrs. Leo to stand, turn around, and face the sea of blue that was behind them.
“Please look at these men and women,” Norman said to the Leos. “This is your family. They will be with you wherever you go.”
Monsignor John Zuraw of St. Rose Catholic Church in Girard, who officiated, then offered a special prayer for God’s protection over the law-enforcement community, which was followed by a long ovation from others in attendance.
Monsignor Zuraw said it’s natural to question why Officer Leo was taken at the young age of 31, and added it’s common for people to say it was simply God’s will.
He disagreed with that notion, though.
“We cannot say that this happened because God wanted Justin in heaven,” Zuraw said. “God was with Justin on every call he went out on, God was with Justin the moment he was shot, God was with Justin the moment he died.”
Another question created by Leo’s death, Zuraw said, is, “What are we going to do about the unfinished masterpiece of Justin’s life?”
He encouraged the mourners to honor Leo by living honorable, honest, decent lives, just as Leo did.
“Life is not fair,” Zuraw said. “But be as strong and determined as Justin was, unafraid of the future and ready to meet challenges every day.”
Jenna Boris, one of Leo’s cousins, spoke of how she and Justin forged a close bond as children and remained close as they grew up.
“He had a special way with people that most people don’t have,” Boris said. “He didn’t have to try to connect with people. He just did.”
Another cousin, Jackie Swick, said Leo’s was a quietly dignified life.
“There are people who do good things, then go out and tell people about it,” Swick said. “And there are people who do great things and tell no one, like Justin.”
Chrissy Stonebraker-Martinez, who was Leo’s best friend, said many people didn’t realize he was a poet.
“He often said that he, and we, are all children of the divine,” she said, before reading a Scripture from the book of Daniel.
Girard Mayor Jim Melfi also offered a Scripture reading from the New Testament.
Funeral arrangements were by Blackstone Funeral Home in Girard.