Public safety personnel in Atlantic and Cape May counties who gave their lives in the line of duty were remembered at a memorial Mass March 16 at St. Nicholas of Tolentine Church in Atlantic City.
The 200 Club of Atlantic and Cape May Counties, which assists surviving family members of the personnel killed, sponsored the 29th annual Mass, celebrated by Father Robert B. Matysik, chaplain at AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center, Pomona.
Participating in the liturgy were the New Jersey State Police/Atlantic City Police Department Combined Honor Guard; the Cape-Atlantic Police and Fire Irish Pipe Brigade; the Atlantic County Sheriff’s Office; Egg Harbor Police Dept.; Galloway Twp. Police Dept.; Port Republic Volunteer Fire Dept.; and Richard Stockton College Police Department
The presentation of the gifts was made by Cathy Hoopes, Lisa and Drew Gibson, and Melissa Calderone, all family members of Trooper James Hoopes, a 14-year veteran of the New Jersey State Police. Hoopes, who died in 2012, was also a beloved youth football, basketball and baseball coach in his community.
Brunch followed at the Borgata Hotel and Casino with speaker Capt. Raymond Dupuis, commander of field operations for the Watertown Police Department.
Capt. Dupuis and his police department were instrumental in the effort to capture Dzhohkar Tsarnaev, who, along with his brother, Tamerlan, killed in a shootout with police, is suspected of committing last year’s bombings of the Boston Marathon.
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