Police Officers carry Brian Lorenzo’s coffin after a funeral mass for the fallen officer, Friday, July 13, 2012, Philadelphia, Pa. (Maria Pouchnikova)
Hundreds of police, friends and family mourned the loss of Philadelphia Police Officer Brian Lorenzo during a funeral Mass at the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul in Center City on Friday.
Lorenzo’s younger brother Manny, Mayor Michel Nutter and Deputy Police Commissioner Richard Ross all delivered poignant eulogies of the veteran Highway Patrol officer who perished early last Sunday in a collision between his police motorcycle and a wrong-way, allegedly drunk motorist on Interstate 95.
“I miss Brian so much already. I struggle with his death every day,” said Manny Lorenzo as he broke into tears. “And I wonder why such an honorable man could be taken from us so suddenly.”
Brian Lorenzo was a 48-year-old husband and father of three and Somerton resident. He served 23 years on the police force, including 15 in Highway Patrol.
Manny Lorenzo followed his brother into the police department and is a patrol officer in the 25th district.
“He was my big brother and my best friend,” Manny said. “I always looked up to him and that’s why I became a police officer. … In his quiet way, he helped mold me into the police officer I am today.”
Ross stood in for Commissioner Charles Ramsey, who has been traveling abroad since prior to Brian Lorenzo’s death, police sources said.
Ross spoke of how he recalled seeing Lorenzo’s benevolent smile at police department functions and how he always looked the part of a model officer.
“He was a man who took his job and his oath very seriously and he did it well,” Ross said.
Nutter said he had gotten to know Lorenzo, a co-captain on the Highway Patrol Drill Team, personally.
“We always remember his service, always remember his smile and always remember his joy at doing his duty,” Nutter said. ••
