Fenton Police Expect Thousands to Attend West Bloomfield Officer's Funeral

Several roads will be closed Friday morning and there will be heavy traffic in the area.

By Anna Troppens
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September 13, 2012

Left to right: Patrick O'Rourke, 39, of Fenton, is shown in a family photo with daughters Mary and Andrea, son Stephen, daughter Eileen and wife Amy. O'Rourke was killed by a barricaded gunman in West Bloomfield Sunday night. Courtesy of Whimsical Photography

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Slain West Bloomfield Police Department Officer Patrick O'Rourke was represented at a candlelight vigil in his memory by mother Arlene O'Rourke, left, wife Amy O'Rourke, right, and his four children.

Credit Timothy Rath

Left to right: Patrick O'Rourke, 39, of Fenton, is shown in a family photo with daughters Mary and Andrea, son Stephen, daughter Eileen and wife Amy. O'Rourke was killed by a barricaded gunman in West Bloomfield Sunday night.

Credit Courtesy of Whimsical Photography

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Officer Patrick O'Rourke, a Fenton resident and West Bloomfield police officer, leaves behind his wife, Amy, and four children.

Credit Timothy Rath http://o3.aolcdn.com/dims-shared/dims3/PATCH/resize/273x203/http://hss-prod.hss.aol.com/hss/storage/patch/d5927567ccbdf2dc446af205160a098e

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Heavy traffic and road closures are planned Friday near St. John's Catholic Church, as thousands gather for Officer Patrick O'Rourke's funeral.

O'Rourke, 39, of Fenton and a West Bloomfield police officer, was killed in the line of duty on Sunday.

Fenton police have talked with residents and the schools, and they are aware of the traffic situation, said Chief of Police Rick Aro. North Adelaide Street will be closed from 7:15 a.m. to 2 p.m., between Silver Lake Road and North Road.

In addition, Silver Lake Road between the U.S. 23 ramps and Leroy Street will be very congested from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. with patrol cars, friends and family members attending O'Rourke's funeral, Aro said.

Between 1,500 and 3,000 police officers could attend the ceremony, he said. Adelaide Street will be where area police officers will be located after the funeral begins, with police from West Bloomfield, Oakland County and Fenton, for example. In addition, Bush Park will be filled with patrol cars from further away, including Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Aro said.

Media parking will be in a designated lot north of St. John Catholic Church.

Thanks. We'll email you the next time we update this story.

Shawn C

12:13 pm on Thursday, September 13, 2012

Is there going to be a funeral procession from the church, or is Office O'Rourke going to be laid to rest at St. Johns?

Fentonite

1:02 pm on Thursday, September 13, 2012

My wife and I were just at St. John Church this morning. Officer O'Rourke will be laid to rest at St. John cemetery directly across the street from the main church on Adelaide. They were/are planning to have two rows of first responders lined up from the church to the burial plot (about 200 feet) where they will individually hand off the casket from one set of pall bearers to the next and so forth. I have never seen this done before and it should be a beautiful and fitting tribute to a fallen officer. My prayers are for the O'Rourke family for their tremendous loss.