MY CONDOLENCES. Massillon Police Officer Tom
Rogers talks to JuWanna Taylor, wife of slain
Police Officer Eric Taylor, as she holds her
son, Ty, 3, during calling hours at Stewart-
Calhoun Funeral Home in Akron on Thursday.
Posted on 08/16/2002 6:46:26 AM PDT by ResistorSister
AKRON -- A line of 30 Akron police officers, dressed in their summer uniforms, paraded through a hallway in the Stewart-Calhoun Funeral Home on Thursday.
They were heading to work.
As each passed by, Massillon Police Officer Ken Hendricks clasped their hand.
“Thank you,” he’d say.
“Thank you.”
“Thanks for coming out.”
“Thank you.”
“It helps the healing.”
Tears welled in Hendricks’ eyes. Then again, eyes had been filling with tears all afternoon long.
At 3 p.m., Massillon police officers decked out in dress uniforms closed the doors in the funeral home’s chapel and spent some time to say goodbye to their fallen comrade, Eric B. Taylor.
Last Friday night, Taylor, 31, was killed in a gun battle between police and Donald W. Matthews, 61, of Jackson Township. A state highway patrol trooper tried to stop Matthews, an avowed constitutionalist, for a traffic violation. Matthews refused to cooperate and fled. The chase ended in a gravel parking lot at the corner of Cherry Road and First Street NW in Massillon.
Police still are investigating the shooting. An autopsy by the Stark County coroner’s office indicated Taylor died after being shot by Matthews. Police then shot Matthews.
This past week has been spent planning for Taylor’s services in his hometown of Akron.
Massillon officers wore dress uniforms: white long-sleeved shirts and some in blue coats with gold braid draping the left shoulder.
Taylor wore his dress uniform, his navy blue hat resting above his left shoulder.
Two officers flanked Taylor’s casket, standing at attention throughout Thursday’s six hours of visitation. Every 15 minutes, officers would relieve each other, snapping a salute before they switched.
Two groups of Akron police officers paid their respects before reporting to work. The Summit County Sheriff’s Department sent a nine-member honor guard, and five members of the Cincinnati Police Department’s honor guard were in attendance.
Police officers came from Jackson, Lawrence and Perry townships, Canton, Alliance, Canal Fulton, Navarre and Hills and Dales and the Stark County Sheriff’s Department. They also came from Garfield Heights, Brunswick, Streetsboro, Wooster, Springfield, Barberton, Cuyahoga Falls and other departments in Northeast Ohio.
For most of the afternoon, Massillon Police Chief Mark Weldon greeted a steady stream of visitors, some of whom didn’t know Taylor but who wanted to pay their respects to him and the Massillon department.
Many of the clerks, bailiffs and other staff who worked with Taylor in Massillon Municipal Court attended. Mayor Francis H. Cicchinelli, Safety-Service Director Al Climer and their wives paid their respects.
Taylor’s wife, JuWanna, son, Ty, 3, and daughter, Lauren, 1, and other family members arrived at 7 p.m. They were brought to the funeral home in an Akron and Massillon police escort.
Massillon officers formed an honor guard for the family to pass through when it entered the funeral home, and added to the honor guard in the main chapel.
Weldon escorted Ohio Attorney General Betty Montgomery to meet with Taylor’s family. A chaplain and other members of the Cleveland Police Department offered their condolences.
The calling hours seemed as much a time of healing for Taylor’s extended Massillon Police Department family, as it was for his wife, parents, brothers and other relatives.
Officers often fought back tears, and often had to find moments when they huddled together away from the crowds. Officers and their wives supported each other through the day.
Taylor’s service is at 11 a.m. today at House of the Lord church at 1650 Diagonal Rd. in Akron. Following the service, he will be buried at Mount Peace Cemetery at 183 Aqueduct St. in Akron.
You can reach Repository writer Edd Pritchard at (330) 580-8484 or e-mail:
F.Y.I. - Final Update
As you may know, a small police department in my area (Green Bay/Brown County) recently lost two police officers through a senseless murder. Their funerals were respectful, dignified, but massive, attended by officers throughout the state and the nation. Officer Taylor will be honored in the way.
God rest his soul.
You did a great job keeping us informed. Thanks. This series of threads was very revealing.
May Eric Taylor rest in peace and may his family stay strong.
Rest in Hell, DW Matthews. And may your supporters join you soon.
What's worse, someday some toothless "patriot" in a grungy t-shirt will point at Taylor's widow, with kids in tow, and mutter something about "another black single mom with a bunch of kids."
Okay, I'm done ranting.
You probably have that right.
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