More than 100 members of the state police joined state dignitaries, local officials, and grieving family members yesterday for the funeral services of state Trooper Robert J. MacDougall, 25, held at St. Catherine of Siena Church.
A capacity congregation gathered to honor the fallen officer, with state leadership represented by Lieutenant Governor Donald R. Dwight, Secretary of Public Safety Richard E. McLaughlin, and Commissioner of Public Safety William F. Powers.
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Brigadier General William W. Molla attended representing the Massachusetts National Guard, while Walpole Police Chief C. William Haggblom represented the Massachusetts Police Chiefs Association alongside high-ranking state police officers including Lt. Col. Robert Murgia, Major John Moriarity, Major John Downey, Captain Winthrop Doty, Captain George Hacking, and Captain Robert Herzog.
A Mass of the Resurrection was celebrated by Monsignor Robert J. Sennott, pastor of St. Catherine’s, assisted by the Reverend Gene Palumbo of Don Bosco High School in East Boston and the Reverend Patrick O’Connor of the Columban Fathers. Law enforcement delegations traveled from across the region to pay their respects, including municipal police officers from Worcester, Grafton, Upton, Foxboro, Boston, Cambridge, Westwood, Dedham, Norwood, Medfield, Walpole, and Attleboro, as well as contingents from the Metropolitan District Commission Police, the Registry of Motor Vehicles, the Connecticut State Police, and the West Hartford Police Department. Funeral arrangements were coordinated by State Police Lt. Frank Trabucco of the Framingham Barracks and Norwood Police Chief James M. Murphy, with services handled by the Carroll and Thomas Funeral Home in Hyde Park. Following the church service, an entourage of roughly 50 state police cruisers—led by a Boston motorcycle officer and an honor guard commanded by Captain Charles Gilligan—escorted the procession to Knollwood Memorial Park in Sharon for burial.
Trooper MacDougall, a resident of 2 Baker St. assigned to the Grafton Barracks, was tragically killed late Friday night while on duty in Shrewsbury when he was struck by a flatbed trailer truck on Route 20. He is survived by his wife, Christine A. (Bailey) MacDougall; his two young sons, Timothy, 3, and Gregory, 2 months; his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Francis MacDougall of Boston; a sister, Mrs. Rita Eastburg of Elkhart, Indiana; and his grandfather, Joseph MacDougall of Nova Scotia. To support the young family, neighbors established the Robert J. MacDougall Memorial Fund, with organizers like Mrs. John Gobron directing that contributions be sent in care of the Norfolk County Trust Co. in Medfield.
Archival Note: This article has been dynamically reconstructed from the original public record print archives of the Patriot Ledger
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