A large American flag hung from two St. Paul Fire Department ladder trucks outside a church as officers filed inside for the funeral of St. Paul Officer Felicia Reilly.
Reilly died March 1, nearly 15 years after she responded to a 911 call and a man assaulted her. She sustained a brain injury that worsened as the years went on, and wasn’t able to return to work. She was 67.
Felicia Reilly (Courtesy of the Reilly family)
Her last wish was for a line-of-duty funeral, which was was underway Monday.
A contingent of women St. Paul officers carried Reilly’s casket to the front of Gustavus Adolphus Lutheran Church in St. Paul.
Reilly was a mother of five and her oldest son, Matthew Reilly II, gave a eulogy. Speaking to the hundreds of people seated in the church, he said many there could tell stories about Officer Reilly and others could tell stories about Felicia, but he was going to tell them about “Mom.”
She taught her children a sense of wonder; she was compassionate, true to herself and never made a promise, no matter how small, that she didn’t keep, her son said.
The funeral service started at 11 a.m. and is now over, with a procession heading to Roselawn Cemetery.
The St. Paul Police Department encouraged the community to line the procession route from Reilly’s funeral to the cemetery. People with American flags were outside the cemetery before the processoin arrived.
The procession left the church, which is at Arcade Street and Larpenetur Avenue. It is going west on Larpenteur Avenue from the church to Roselawn Cemetery, 803 W. Larpenteur Ave. in Roseville, for interment.
Streets around the church are closed.
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