Worcester

Funeral Details Announced for Worcester Officer Who Died Trying to Save Drowning Teen

Calling hours are set for Wednesday, with the funeral on Thursday

Worcester Police

The Worcester Police Department on Sunday announced calling hours and funeral details for Officer Enmanuel "Manny" Familia, who died Friday while trying to rescue a drowning teen.

Calling hours will be held at St. John’s Catholic Church at 44 Temple St. in Worcester on Wednesday, June 9, from 4 to 8 p.m. Funeral services will be held on Thursday, June 10 at 10 a.m. at St. John’s Catholic Church.

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Those attending the funeral are asked to go directly to the church. Burial will immediately follow the funeral, where Familia will be laid to rest at St. John’s Cemetery on Cambridge Street.

Information regarding traffic pattern, parking, street closures and more will be released when it becomes available, Worcester police said.

The 38-year-old Familia was one of five officers who entered the water at Green Hill Park, the city's largest, on Friday afternoon to try and save a drowning teenager.

A police escort led the way as Worcester Police Officer Manny Familia's body left UMass Memorial Medical Center for the Medical Examiner's Office in Springfield.

Familia and the 14-year-old teen, identified by family members as Troy Love, were later located by divers and rushed to the hospital, where they were pronounced dead.

Familia was a five-year police department veteran with a wife and two children.

"The Worcester Police Department has lost a brother, friend, and a partner. The city of Worcester has lost a hero," Police Chief Steven Sargent said Friday. "We will remember and honor his selfless devotion to Worcester, and his ultimate sacrifice to save someone he didn't know."

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker called the incident "the worst nightmare you could ever possibly imagine."

Touring a vaccine clinic in Dorchester on Saturday, Gov. Charlie Baker was asked about the shootings of two Braintree officers and the drowning of Worcester Officer Enmanuel 'Manny' Familia.

"Jumps into the water attempting to save somebody else, a young boy, that’s about a high a calling as you can possibly imagine," the governor said.

Donations are now being accepted for the Familia family through the Worcester Police Department Credit Union, with 100% of the donations going to the Familia family.

Checks can be mailed to the Familia Family Memorial Fund, c/o Worcester Police Federal Credit Union, 805 West Boylston Street, Worcester, MA 01606, checks payable to the Familia Family Memorial Fund.

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