Montco Fallen Police Officers Honored Tuesday

HORSHAM TOWNSHIP, PA — The township has announced the date for its 27th annual Project Blue Light ceremony that honors the fallen police officers of Montgomery County.

Horsham Township officials said this year's event will be held at the Horsham Township Municipal Complex from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Dec. 9.

The ceremony includes the lighting of a tree on Horsham Road to honor the police officers.

The solemn ceremony features representatives from numerous police departments throughout Montgomery County: The Horsham Township Police Department, The Pennsylvania State Police barracks in Skippack, the Abington Township Police Department, the Hatfield Police Department, the Springfield Township Police Department, the Upper Merion Police Department, the Whitpain Township Police Department, the Upper Dublin Township Police Department, and the Upper Gwynedd Police Department, among others.

Project Blue Light is a nationwide observance begun more than 30 years ago by Dolly Craig of Philadelphia.

In 1988, Craig placed two blue candle lights in the window of her home: one in honor of her son-in-law, Philadelphia Police Officer Daniel Gleason, killed in the line of duty in 1986; and one for her daughter Pam, Gleason’s wife, who died in an auto crash in 1988. The couple had six children.

The officers lost in the line of duty are:

• Constable Daniel J. O'Brien —Abington Township Police, Aug. 8, 1904
• Officer Eugene J. Lucas —Conshohocken Borough Police, Aug. 13, 1917
• Officer Francis X. Roy —Lower Merion Township Police, Sept. 15, 1924
• Sgt. John M. Thomas —Pennsylvania State Highway Patrol, May 8, 1927
• Officer Elwyn A. Fletcher —Lower Merion Township Police, June 9, 1927
• Patrolman Andrew W. Miller —Pennsylvania State Highway Patrol, April 1, 1928
• Chief Warren M. Kramer —Hatboro Borough Police, Oct. 6, 1935
• Officer Edgar L. Peterson —Cheltenham Township Police, March 3, 1946
• Officer Thomas J. Matthews —Abington Township Police, June 29, 1949
• Officer John J. Plunkett —Jenkintown Borough Police, March 9, 1957
• Chief Robert E. Reilly —Norristown Borough Police, Sept. 9, 1959
• Trooper Francis M. Tessitore —Pennsylvania State Police, Aug. 5, 1960
• Chief John J. Culp —Lower Providence Township Police, Dec. 25, 1963
• Officer Thomas W. Corum —Pottstown Borough Police, Jan. 20, 1964
• Sergeant Francis J. Fanning —Lower Merion Township Police, July 6, 1966
• Officer Michael J. Saulin —Upper Merion Township Police, March 4, 1975
• Officer David J. Hancock —Montgomery Township Police, Dec. 11, 1976
• Officer Raymond Moscardelli —Ambler Borough Police, Jan. 20, 1977
• Sergeant A. Wesley Faust —New Hanover Township Police, May 22, 1977
• Corporal Leo M. Koscelnick —Pennsylvania State Police, Aug. 15, 1977
• Trooper Stanley E. Wesloski —Pennsylvania State Police, May 26, 1986
• Sergeant George F. Opelski —West Norriton Township Police, Sept. 13, 1986
• Officer Edward M. Setzer —Lower Merion Township Police, Sept. 20, 1988
• Officer Thomas M. Barone —Norristown Borough Police, Oct. 11, 1992
• Special Agent Charles L. Reed —F.B.I. Lansdale Office, March 22, 1986
• Officer Richard V. Lawn Jr. —Lower Gwynedd Township Police, July 28, 2003
• Sergeant James R. Miller —Upper Dublin Township Police, April 20, 2004
• Officer Bradley M. Fox —Plymouth Township Police, Sept. 13, 2012
• Trooper David Kedra —Pennsylvania State Police, Sept. 30, 2014