FRANCONIA, N.H. (AP) – Nine-year-old Courtney McKay began reading a speech at the funeral for her father, a police corporal who was killed on the job last week. She broke down after a few words.
“You know my dad as Franconia officer Bruce McKay or 44-K, but my dad was so much more than that,” Courtney said Thursday before an audience of roughly 2,000 people.
The Rev. Lyn Winter finished her remarks, after calling Courtney “a chip off the old block” for having the courage to even try speaking.
“He loved animals, especially our dogs. He loved nature. He loved our house. He loved being a police officer, and he loved me. My dad was my best bud. My dad loved me and I loved him,” she read.
They liked riding his motorcycle and going fishing, and “we especially liked taking naps together.”
“My dad was the greatest and bravest man I have ever known. My love for my dad will never die,” she said.
Low clouds and mist shrouded the Echo Lake area below Cannon Mountain, where the funeral was held in a parking lot to accommodate the crowd. McKay had planned to marry on the mountain’s summit this summer, and it was one of his favorite places.
“Cannon Mountain stands guard over this town, much like Corporal Bruce McKay watched over and protected the town of Franconia,” said Gov. John Lynch, who also spoke of McKay’s close relationship with Courtney.
“He was a father proud of just being a dad,” Lynch said. “From the moment Courtney was born, her dad spoke to her, sang to her, played with her … and even allowed his fingernails to be painted by her.”
Attorney General Kelly Ayotte also spoke.
“His life was filled with countless acts of kindness and valor,” Ayotte said. “He would just say he was doing his job, but we all know the work he did takes a special person. He chose to perform a difficult and dangerous job because he cared about the quality of life for the people of Franconia and the people of this state.”
Police officials presented McKay’s sister, Meggen Payerle, and fiancee, Sharon Davis, with a state award he had been scheduled to receive next week for making an arrest that led to the unraveling of a fraud ring and 23 arrests.
Longtime friend Lt. Col. Adrian Bogart, of the U.S. Army Special Forces, laid a bronze star on his friend’s casket and called McKay “a true American.”
McKay, 48, was shot four times and run over last Friday by Liko Kenney during a traffic stop. Kenney, 24, was fatally shot by a man who happened upon the scene. Kenney’s funeral is scheduled for Sunday.
McKay’s service with full police honors drew about 1,400 police, fire and conservation officers from across New England. Many came from Manchester, where Officer Michael Briggs was killed last year.
The procession wound under a giant American flag hung between the ladders of two fire trucks. Motorcycles with their blue lights flashing came first, circling the parking lot and forming a line at the rear.
Then came bagpipes and drums, a color guard and dignitaries like Ayotte, Lynch, first lady Susan Lynch and U.S. Sen. John Sununu, followed by ranks of officers marching in formation and on horseback. At the end was a hearse flanked by an honor guard and McKay’s police sport utility vehicle.
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