Project Blue Light Honors 29 Fallen Montco Police Officers

HORSHAM TOWNSHIP, PA —It could have been 30.

A police officer was shot this past year in Montgomery County. In mid-November, a Pottstown police officer was shot while responding to a domestic violence incident. But he didn't die of his injuries.

That officer, luckily, was not added to the list of the 29 names of Montgomery County's fallen police officers honored during the 26th "Project Blue Light" ceremony before a standing-room-only crowd at the Horsham Township Community Center on Tuesday night.

During the ceremony, per custom, a tree was lit directly across from the municipal complex in Deep Meadow Park.

At the podium, candles were lit during a roll call by Deputy Police Chief Adam of the 29 names of fallen law enforcement dating back to the early 1900s. Horsham Detectives Kimberly Ngo and Michael Peter lit the candles.

Among the speakers were: Horsham Township Council President William Whiteside, Township Manager Bill Walker, State Sen. Maria Collett, State Rep. Melissa Cerrato, Montgomery County Commissioner Thomas DiBello, and Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele.

Music was provided by the Simmons Elementary School 5th Grade Chorus while the invocation and benediction were delivered by Police Chaplain Michael DeLucia.

See additional Patch coverage about the event over the coming days

The solemn ceremony also featured representatives from numerous police departments throughout Montgomery County: The Pennsylvania State Police barracks in Skippack, the Abington Township Police Department, the Hatfield Police Department, the Springfield Township Police Department, the Upper Merion Police Department, the Whitpain Township Police Department, the Upper Dublin Township Police Department, and the Upper Gwynedd Police Department, among others.

The keynote speaker was Springfield Township Police Chief Michael E. Pitknow, president of the Montgomery County Police Chiefs Association.

Horsham Township Police Chief Scott J. Fida served as the master of ceremonies.

"We remember the families they left behind," Whiteside said. "We can acknowledge that sacrifice with pride and affection."

"There are mothers and fathers, sons and daughters, husbands and wives, and family and friends who remain," Walker said. "No speech can make the pain any easier."

Collett, a former trauma nurse, stressed that law enforcement should never be taken for granted and that they "put the public's well-being before their own," taking risks each day to serve Montgomery County residents.

"The blue lights we display are beacons of gratitude and respect," Cerrato said. "They shine brightly for those who made the sacrifice."

DiBello said that despite the solemn ceremony, he was thankful that it takes place around the holidays, offering comfort to those "in grief and mourning."

"They knew the risk and still chose to wear the badge," the commissioner said.

Project Blue Light is a nationwide observance begun more than 30 years ago by Dolly Craig of Philadelphia.

In 1988, Craig placed two blue candle lights in the window of her home: one in honor of her son-in-law, Philadelphia Police Officer Daniel Gleason, killed in the line of duty in 1986; and one for her daughter Pam, Gleason’s wife, who died in an auto crash in 1988. The couple had six children.

The officers lost in the line of duty are:

• Constable Daniel J. O'Brien —Abington Township Police, Aug. 8, 1904
• Officer Eugene J. Lucas —Conshohocken Borough Police, Aug. 13, 1917
• Officer Francis X. Roy —Lower Merion Township Police, Sept. 15, 1924
• Sgt. John M. Thomas —Pennsylvania State Highway Patrol, May 8, 1927
• Officer Elwyn A. Fletcher —Lower Merion Township Police, June 9, 1927
• Patrolman Andrew W. Miller —Pennsylvania State Highway Patrol, April 1, 1928
• Chief Warren M. Kramer —Hatboro Borough Police, Oct. 6, 1935
• Officer Edgar L. Peterson —Cheltenham Township Police, March 3, 1946
• Officer Thomas J. Matthews —Abington Township Police, June 29, 1949
• Officer John J. Plunkett —Jenkintown Borough Police, March 9, 1957
• Chief Robert E. Reilly —Norristown Borough Police, Sept. 9, 1959
• Trooper Francis M. Tessitore —Pennsylvania State Police, Aug. 5, 1960
• Chief John J. Culp —Lower Providence Township Police, Dec. 25, 1963
• Officer Thomas W. Corum —Pottstown Borough Police, Jan. 20, 1964
• Sergeant Francis J. Fanning —Lower Merion Township Police, July 6, 1966
• Officer Michael J. Saulin —Upper Merion Township Police, March 4, 1975
• Officer David J. Hancock —Montgomery Township Police, Dec. 11, 1976
• Officer Raymond Moscardelli —Ambler Borough Police, Jan. 20, 1977
• Sergeant A. Wesley Faust —New Hanover Township Police, May 22, 1977
• Corporal Leo M. Koscelnick —Pennsylvania State Police, Aug. 15, 1977
• Trooper Stanley E. Wesloski —Pennsylvania State Police, May 26, 1986
• Sergeant George F. Opelski —West Norriton Township Police, Sept. 13, 1986
• Officer Edward M. Setzer —Lower Merion Township Police, Sept. 20, 1988
• Officer Thomas M. Barone —Norristown Borough Police, Oct. 11, 1992
• Special Agent Charles L. Reed —F.B.I. Lansdale Office, March 22, 1986
• Officer Richard V. Lawn Jr. —Lower Gwynedd Township Police, July 28, 2003
• Sergeant James R. Miller —Upper Dublin Township Police, April 20, 2004
• Officer Bradley M. Fox —Plymouth Township Police, Sept. 13, 2012
• Trooper David Kedra —Pennsylvania State Police, Sept. 30, 2014

(Dino Ciliberti/Patch)