Widow Of Rutland Police Detective Killed By COVID-19 Says He Was 'All For The Community'
RUTLAND (CBS) -- Joanne Songy fought back tears as she tried to comprehend these last few weeks. Her husband, John Songy, a Rutland Police detective died last week from the coronavirus. He was only 48 years old.
"Thank you to everybody, I know they're all trying to console me, it's not going to bring him back, but I am grateful for what everyone has done," she said. "It's pretty difficult to even wrap my head around. He's an officer of the law, that would have been my fear: losing his life to that. Instead, he lost his life to a virus.".
John worked for the Rutland Police Department for eight years.
Both Joanne and her husband contracted the virus back in late April. She recovered but John got progressively worse.
Joanne described him as kind, humble with an infectious smile, and someone who wanted to share his goodness with his community.
"I think sometimes police get a bad rap. And John was not one of those types of police officers. He was all for the community and helping wherever he could," she said.
Songy's death comes during a difficult time for police and the community as riots broke out across the nation and especially Sunday night in Boston.
Joanne said her husband would be extremely disturbed by the recent violence.
"He would be blown away by what's going on right now. There's good cops and bad cops. But the aftermath of that is what's happening everywhere so innocent people are now getting hurt and the riots that are going on, it's unfair."
She sends a strong message about COVID-19 - it's still with us and people need to take it seriously.
"Wearing masks and washing your hands and following the CDC guidelines," she said.
Calling hours for Songy will be held on Wednesday at Miles Funeral Home in Holden. His funeral will be on Thursday at 11 a.m. at St. Patrick's Parish in Rutland.
