'Legacy For A Lifetime': College Football Team Honors Peabody Officer Henry Breckenridge

PEABODY, MA — All the love, support and heartfelt memories shared on the North Shore for late Peabody police officer Henry Breckenridge in the two weeks since his death from surgical complications are being echoed nearly 300 miles away in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania where Breckenridge left an enduring impact on the college football field as well.

Before Breckenridge returned to his hometown to give back to his community as a police officer who was heavily involved in youth sports and student outreach in the schools, he was a star linebacker for the Division 2 national gridiron power.

Former ESU college teammate and roommate Dan Gale said he knew whenever he would catch up with his friend when passing through the Boston area on business how much those football days still meant to Breckenridge, so he decided to join with other members of the program to create an endowed scholarship to make sure his spirit will live on at the school and within the football locker room.

"Hank and I were really close in college," Gale told Patch on Thursday. "He was one of those guys where you met him once and he was like your best friend. That was a gift that he had. Everyone who knew him has a great memory of Hank.

"We want this to be a legacy for a lifetime for Henry."

While Gale said he wants to make sure the East Stroudsburg college football scholarship in no way conflicts or interferes with the family fundraising being done in Peabody, he and many of his former teammates are looking forward to securing the endowed scholarship that will be awarded to a player in the program each year.

Stanzy's Country Ranch in Peabody will hold a separate fundraiser called the "#BeLikeHenry Meetup & Fundraiser" Sunday from 2 to 6 p.m. on Breckenridge's birthday with a portion of all sales donated to a memorial scholarship fund in his honor as well.

Gale said the ESU scholarship — which has a goal of raising $12,500 that he said will then be matched with a $12,500 donation — has nearly 40 donations totaling almost $6,000 from those tied to the school in just the first seven days since the GoFundMe page went live.

"Most of the guys are ones who used to play with him," Gale said. "Everyone he started over and everyone who started over him has contributed.

"I am one of those people who think the more that can be done in his memory the better. To go up there for his wake and see what he did for his community just blows me away."

Gale said he was struck by that while standing in the line of people waiting in the rain to get into the wake that he estimated stretched a half-mile long.

"That was someone who impacted the community," Gale said. "That was something."

He said he reached out to some members of the ESU football program — including head coach Jimmy Terwilliger, who was the starting quarterback when Gale and Breckenridge played together — and the response to the idea of an endowed scholarship was overwhelming. He said the intent is to involve the Breckenridge family in the scholarship awarding process to make sure recipients know the inspiration for this gift.

"The outpouring I have seen for him has been pretty impressive," he said. "This way long after we are all gone the impact that Henry had will be felt in the program forever."

Peabody Police Chief Thomas Griffin expressed his gratitude Thursday for the overwhelming support for the department and Breckenridge's family during this most difficult time.

"I've always been proud to be the Peabody Police Chief and that feeling was truly validated by the exemplary showing of our department and the larger community last week," he said in a message to the community on the department's Facebook page. "Everyone should be proud of the way our police department and our citizens represented themselves to Henry's family. This was a very difficult event for us to deal with, but we gave Henry an honorable send-off.

"We will be leaving the memorial decal on the back windows of Car 16, Henry's cruiser, and the banner that hung outside the funeral has been relocated to the Roll Call room.

"Henry will not be forgotten."

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)