Police, Family, Friends Pay Respects To State Trooper Thomas Clardy

HUDSON (CBS) – It was a line of law enforcement that seemed to have no end; Massachusetts State Police, New Hampshire Police, New York, Rhode Island and Indiana to name a few.

Officers from all around the country marched through the streets of Hudson, all there to pay their respects to a family who lost their father.

People lined the streets in front of St. Michael's to watch and say goodbye to Trooper Thomas Clardy who was killed when he was hit by a car during a traffic stop on the Mass. Pike last week.

Col. Richard McKeon from the State Police says, "He was so well liked and it was so sudden, it's a dangerous place."

His sudden death, hitting so many, so hard, like Tracy Porzio.

"This one has really affected me," Porzio says. "A real tragic loss."

Porzio's husband is a police officer in Massachusetts. She had to be there.

"Just want to show my support, just to be here and let them know they are not alone," she says.

Clardy was a Marine and a married father of seven children – six with his wife and another from a previous relationship. He was 44 years old.

Clardy joined the Massachusetts State Police in 2005. He lived in Hudson with his family.

State Police say the total number of officers who participated in the walk-by at Trooper Clardy's wake was 1,120. "We know this because one of Trooper Clardy's little girls counted every trooper and officer who passed through to pay respects to her father," State Police spokesman David Procopio said.

Along with the law enforcement members, friends and family, was Governor Charlie Baker, who came to speak with Trooper Clardy's children.

"I told them all I heard was how much people admired their dad and their family," Governor Baker said.

Trooper Clardy's funeral is on Tuesday. His good friend and former boss at the State Police is giving the eulogy and says Trooper Clardy's first love and passion was not his job. Retired Sgt. Albert Toney says, "With him, family came first, we should all aspire to take family first over anything at all."

The funeral will be Tuesday at 11 a.m., also at Saint Michael's. Clardy will be laid to rest at Saint Michael's Cemetery in Hudson.

In lieu of flowers, donations in memory of Trooper Clardy may be made to:

The Clardy Children's Fund

C/O Avidia Bank

42 Main St.

Hudson, MA 01749

The driver charged in the crash, 30-year-old David Njuguna of Webster, is still at UMass Memorial Medical Center with serious injuries.