Staff writer
sbeveridge@observer-reporter.com
Nathan Burnfield will be remembered "for the silly smile on his face" by his colleagues in the South Strabane Township Police Department, his chief said at the young officer's funeral Monday.
"We share a tremendous loss," South Strabane Chief Donald Zofchak said, thanking local police for their help in the days since Burnfield, 27, was struck and killed Nov. 4 by a tri-axle truck on Interstate 70.
"I say thank you for holding up the fort," Zofchak said during the hourlong service in Immaculate Conception Roman Catholic Church in Washington.
Burnfield, who joined the police force as a part-time officer in 2004 and was promoted to full time in January 2007, was returning from his last training session on how to deal with drunken drivers when he witnessed a tractor-trailer strike a loose tire and rim on the highway. He stopped immediately and got out to remove the tire when another truck struck him on a blind curve near Bentleyville.
"His willingness never stopped," said the Rev. Gary A. Gibson, pastor of North Buffalo Presbyterian Church, who presided over the funeral. "He was always going 110 miles an hour. Truly, Nate was a Good Samaritan."
More than 1,000 people, mostly police officers in uniform, had poured into the church for the funeral. The officers stood outside until the flag-draped coffin arrived at 9:30 a.m., escorted by a fleet of blue, yellow and white South Strabane police cruisers.
"It's a sea of blue," Washington police Chief James R. Blyth said.
He said nearly 175 police cruisers were driven to the city from as far away as Philadelphia, Aberdeen, Md., and Brooke County, W.Va. Forty fire trucks also arrived for the funeral, as did police on motorcycles from Pittsburgh.
South Strabane officers stood two-deep at the side of the church when the hearse arrived. Members of Pittsburgh Police Emerald Society Pipe and Drum, dressed in green-plaid kilts, performed the Irish ballads "Minstrel Boy" and "The Wearing of the Green."
A yellow Canton Township Fire Company engine was used to carry the coffin to burial at Washington Cemetery because Burnfield was a member of that department. It was flying a "maize and blue" University of Michigan flag because the officer was an extreme fan of its football team.
"He was an avid, avid Michigan fan," his mother, Debra Burnfield, told reporters Sunday at William G. Neal Funeral Homes Ltd. in Washington.
Seated beside her son's closed coffin, she said he "did not think" about anything other than helping people when he stopped on I-70. "He wasn't afraid of that challenge."
Pat Reese, president of Canton fire company, praised Burnfield at the church for his quick response to the fire hall for emergencies.
"He always wanted to be the first truck out the door," Reese said. "He was always in high gear and ready to go. It's going to be hard to fill those boots."
Two members of the fire department then chimed a brass bell nine times to signify Burnfield's final call to the station.
Washington County 911 later cleared Burnfield over the airwaves of his final call, about the same time the officer was being laid to rest.
Zofchak, who briefly choked back tears when he spoke at the church, later clarified his words in church that were inaudible during the service.
"I said, 'Job well done, young man. You made me proud.'"