‘The Pain Will Never Go Away’: NCPD Officer Patricia Espinosa Memorialized During Funeral Mass

SMITHTOWN, NY. — On a subfreezing day in Smithtown, a crowd that officials said numbered in the thousands gathered at St. Patrick’s Roman Catholic Church to lay Nassau County Police Officer Patricia Espinosa to rest.

Espinosa died Saturday morning after being hit by a suspected drunk driver while on her way to work, and is survived by her husband, Nassau County Police officer Francisco Malaga, and their two-year-old daughter, Mia.

Services began in Espinosa's honor Wednesday, with multiple visitation periods at St. James Funeral Home.

The funeral mass for Espinosa began Thursday, with Espinosa’s 5th-precinct colleagues standing at the front of the sea of police officers that saw a procession of motorcycles, a squad car with a message in memory of Espinosa, Espinosa’s family, and a hearse pass by.

Six pall bearers carried a casket, draped in a custom-made NCPD cloth with a blue line at its center, into the church. After Espinosa’s family had entered the church, members of the Fifth Precinct and elected officials from across Long Island followed.

The mass was performed by Police Department Chaplain Rev. Gerard Gordon, who recounted how he had visited Espinosa’s family shortly after her passing. He had sat down with her mother and father, Nancy and Patricio, whose names were reflected in their daughter’s name, Nancy Patricia Espinosa.

As he entered the house, Gordon said he was immediately greeted by members of the department who had gathered to support her family. He sat with her family for an hour, hearing stories of her upbringing, praying, and offering condolences. In that hour, Gordon said, he learned two things.

“The first was the great love everyone shared for Patti. Many stories were told about her life, and how she was really the one who united you all together…how much of a model of inspiration she was throughout your entire lives,” Gordon said. “The second thing that became very clear to me in that hour around your table was that these two parents, Nancy and Patricio, had done a great job raising this family.”

That great job, Gordon said, was reflected in the person Espinosa became to her parents, siblings and husband, Francisco.

“She would become, in time, very much a parent. She would be a Nancy and a Patricio to her siblings throughout their lives,” Gordon said. “When I was leaving the house, Francisco, we walked out to the car, the two of us. He told me how fortunate he was to be a part of this family. How much he loved each one of you. Proof, once again, that this was an exceptionally close family. For that reason, you will get through this time of tragedy — but that will be done together as the family that your parents created.”

Also speaking in tribute of Espinosa was Christian Obando, a colleague of hers from the Fifth Precinct. A fellow Ecuadoran, Obando said Espinosa was, “the sister I never had, but always wanted.” The duo connected over shared experiences in their upbringings, and a shared love of the communities they served.

“She was one of the few people I could listen to Spanish music with without telling me to shut it off,” Obando said. “She really had a way of making everyone feel heard and important . . . She loved this job, and was so grateful for the opportunities it gave her in life. But what I think she loved most was the people she worked with. Every time she walked into that precinct for a pow wow, she lit up the room."

Obando said that Espinosa had always wanted to be a mother, a dream she “had almost given up on” at times.

“Almost, and then Francisco came into her life,” he said. “I had never seen her so happy in my life, but she deserved every ounce of that happiness. I’ll never forget when she called me and told me she was pregnant. I couldn’t believe it.

“Then Mia was born. The biggest blessing God could have given her,” Obando said. “Being a mother was her biggest pride and joy above all else, second to being a wife. I want her to know, wherever she is in heaven, that she will always be remembered, and no one will ever forget the way she touched all of our lives."

He added: "I know Mia will be in great hands, with Patti watching over her and Francisco as a father. I don’t know why God decided to take Patti from us so soon, but I’d like to think she had a higher calling we may never understand. I’ll miss her laugh, her smile, the hour-long phone calls we had so often — but most of all, I’ll miss my friend. I know she will be with each of us forever, and will illuminate a path for Francisco, Mia and her family to get through this tragedy.”

After Obando’s words of tribute, Espinosa’s husband, Francisco, and her brother, Christian, came forth to give readings from scripture. It was a bilingual service, with readings and English and Spanish in honor of a woman who had touched countless lives in her community.

“We gained an angel on Saturday, I truly believe that. Let’s remember Patti and the good times, as she would want us to. And may God rest her soul,” Obando said.

Speaking with press Thursday, Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder reflected on the tragedy that was Espinosa’s death, being struck by a suspected drunk driver after bidding farewell to her husband and daughter.

Ryder also reflected on Espinosa’s contributions to the communities she served: She was integral to the department’s prom dress giveaway, a program that gave dresses to high schoolers unable to afford them. Students who had no way to do so, Ryder said, received dresses worth hundreds of dollars thanks to Espinosa and her partners in the program.

In addition to her prom dress giveaway work, Espinosa was a lover of animals. In December of 2024, Espinosa had rescued Daisy and Donald, a pair of Yorkshire Terrier puppies who were stranded at a house after their mother had been hit by a car. When Espinosa found them, they were a week old. Their eyes weren’t even open, but she made sure that they made it to a safe home, A New Beginning Animal Rescue. To Wendy Caldwell, president of A New Beginning, the act of securing these Yorkies’ future was emblematic of the kind of person Espinosa was.

“She was a really good person. She went out of her way to save animals. Nobody else was taking the puppies because sometimes they die, and it's heartbreaking and expensive,” Caldwell said. “They would have died in the shelter, for sure, because they would have had to find somebody to take care of them. And she made sure they stayed alive the whole day, and the other police officer, whose name is Liz Toro. They both made sure that the dogs were okay that whole day. She went so far out of her way.”

Keeping the puppies alive, Caldwell said, meant feeding them every two-to-three hours for weeks on end. It wasn't easy work for Espinosa, Toro, or Judy McGlone, who would come to foster the puppies, but Espinosa went above and beyond. When asked how it felt to say goodbye to someone so dedicated to the same animals A New Beginning seeks to help, Caldwell said she hadn’t just lost someone with a common goal. She had lost a friend.

“We feel so deeply saddened. She was a friend, even though she was not somebody we hung out with,” Caldwell said. “She was still a friend because of the common goal — kindhearted people, you know, there's not so many of them these days.”

Almost two months ago, Daisy and Donald, named by Caldwell’s grandson, celebrated their first birthdays in what Caldwell called, “amazing homes.”

“She didn't quit. She put her entire heart into saving dogs. And apparently, anything that she did,” Caldwell said. “I don't know what the word would be. Honestly, relentless. Relentless feels like a good one. She was just very compassionate.”

While Ryder had reflected on the tragedy of Espinosa’s death Thursday, he also reflected on her life. To Ryder, the litany of community service that Espinosa had performed couldn’t be effectively summated by saying she had gone above and beyond her post.

“She did an extra marathon,” Ryder said.

After the mass ended, a procession of police officers led Espinosa’s family and a hearse holding her casket away from the funeral home. Row after row of police officers saluted Espinosa as she was taken out of the church parking lot, under an American flag suspended from a pair of fire trucks. To the right of the procession, a series of PBA tents had been set up with grills, sandwiches, coffee and pastries for the officers in attendance.

Ryder noted that the county executives from both Nassau and Suffolk county had joined in the services, along with “thousands” of police officers.

“That says something about the kind of person she was,” Ryder said.

For Gordon, the massive department presence seemed to have been of comfort to Espinosa’s family.

“It lifted them up,” Gordon said. “It’s just this silent presence.”

Rev. Gordon is named for Saint Gerard Majella, an 18th-century Italian minister who is the patron saint of expectant mothers, children and families. In time, he said, he hoped the sting of losing a mother, wife, sister, daughter and friend might start to fade for those who knew Patricia.

“The pain will never go away, the sting will go away,” Rev. Gordon told the church.