Tri-Towns Bureau

SIDNEY — Troop C in Sidney held its annual Memorial Day service Thursday to remember those troopers who died in the line of duty.

"Your presence here sends a message to all that we remember our fallen brothers and that their memory and gift will not be forgotten," troop Commander Maj. Thomas Kelly said during his talk to the several dozen in attendance at the Sidney station.

Although he has spent much of his career with Troop C, this is the first year Kelly has presided over the ceremony as commander. The service was particularly poignant for him, he said, because he served with Ricky Parisian, the last of the 13 members of Troop C who have died in the line of duty. Parisian died in 1994 while trying to stop a holdup up at the Great American Supermarket in Oneonta.

Members of the Parisian family were among those in attendance, he said. "I'm just glad his family is here so we can say thank you."

Kelly said the families of Patrick O'Hara and Samuel Rowe were also in attendance.

O'Hara died in 1952 in an accidental shooting, while Rowe died in 1970 in a troop car accident.

Members of the Parisian or O'Hara family weren't available for comments following the service. But Joy Rowe, who lives in Hancock, commented on the day.

"I just can't say enough about Troop C continuing this dedication," she said.

It has given her and her four children a feeling of "camaraderie" with the troopers over the years, she said.

Her husband had been a trooper for 17 years, she said. Living in Hancock, she said, she tries to attend the service each year. And each year, she said, she leaves with "the feeling his dedication was appreciated."

"Memorial Day fills a need inside everybody," Kelly said, "to make sense out of life and our place in the world."

What we do with our lives, Kelly said, "links one trooper to another."

"Our duty is to keep the legacy of these courageous and dedicated men fresh in our memory and especially in the memories of current and future generations of troopers."

Since the state police was formed in 1917, Kelly said, 112 members have died in the line of duty across the state, including the 13 from Troop C.

"The common thread among these brave troopers," he said, "is not how they died, but rather how they lived."

They were "hard-working, dedicated men," he said, "who knew the risks involved with their vocation and realized too well that when they left for work in the morning they might not return home safely."

In 2002, Kelly said, 147 police officers nationwide died in the line of duty. This included Broome County Deputy Kevin Tarsia, who died after being shot July 4.

In closing the ceremony, Kelly thanked First Sgt. Robert McNaught for organizing the event for the past 14 years. He said McNaught will be retiring this summer.

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Mark Boshnack can be reached at starsidney@stny.rr.com or at (607) 563-1493.