‘The world lost an amazing human’
Trooper killed in floods remembered at funeral as witty, ornery, generous
AConnecticut state trooper who was swept to his death in floodwaters last week was remembered at his funeral Thursday as grumpy, witty and demanding, but above all, as a man of boundless generosity and dedication to service. The two-hour ceremony honoring Sgt. Brian Mohl began and ended with the wail and boom of 42 bagpipers and drummers assembled in the Xfinity Theatre in Hartford. About 3,000 people, mostly state and municipal police officers, attended farewell rites for the 26-year veteran who was last assigned to Troop L in Litchfield.
Mohl, 50, was working an overnight shift one week ago when his vehicle was swept away by a flash flood near Jack’s Bridge Road in Woodbury. At 3:30 a.m., he radioed to report his cruiser was caught in rapidly rising floodwaters and he needed help.
Other first responders pinged the sergeant’s phone to try to find him, but it wasn’t until after daybreak that searchers recovered his empty cruiser, which was mostly submerged in the water. Searches eventually found Mohl floating farther down the Pomperaug River. He died later that day at Yale New Haven Hospital; the medical examiner said his death was an accident caused by blunt trauma to the chest.
“It’s hard to think about how he left this world — alone on a stormy night,” Mohl’s sister, Laura Mohl Singh, said at the funeral.
But she and other speakers highlighted the fallen trooper’s distinct personality, a mix of a warm heart and an ornery, but playful exterior. Mohl, who had a nickname for anyone he cared about, would regularly switch toilet paper rolls in people’s houses from an over to under feed.
“He liked to mess with you, but that’s how you knew he cared,” another sister, Frances Gordon, said.
State police Sgt. Corey Craft said he and Mohl messed with each other. Mohl always called his fellow trooper by his last name and would tell him, “Craft, I really don’t even like you. I keep you around because you can talk your way out of anything, so you’re useful to me.’ ”
Craft lived in Mohl’s home in Danbury for a while when they were younger and when Craft moved out, he bought his friend a surprise gift, a $200 cat. The cat lived for 17 years, during which it ate string and broke a hip and had to have emergency surgery. Lowballing the pet’s cost, Craft said, “This cat cost him $25,000. This was one of my greatest achievements.”
Friends and family members said Mohl was a dedicated Costco store member and regularly dropped off cases of drinks, washer fluid and other items to family and friends.
“He would show up with 14 pounds of cherry tomatoes and we would have to eat them for weeks,” Craft said.
Mohl’s passion, though, was his son, Brian, friends and relatives said. After working overtime, the trooper would come home and practice soccer with his son for hours.
“The world lost an amazing human, not just an amazing trooper,” Craft said.
Retired Connecticut state trooper Gary Williams, one of Mohl’s closest friends, said, “If you didn’t know him, you’d think he was a perpetually cranky old man.
“But I’ve rarely come across a man with the generosity of spirit that Brian had.”
Mohl is survived by his wife, Susan, and son, Brian Mohl II, age 14; two step-children, Samantha Ganem, 24, and Peter Ganem, 28; his brothers, Major George Mohl and Sgt. Scott Mohl, both of the New York State Police; his brother, Timmy; his two sisters, Frances and Laura; and his parents, George and Frances Mohl, of New York.
New York state troopers were well represented in the audience, a sea of crisp uniforms that also included New England states and departments as far away as Texas. Connecticut state police commander Col. Stavros Mellekas said the showing was proof of the tight bond between first responders.
Mohl, Mellekas said, could be counted on to get a job done with confidence and common sense.
“Brian,” he said, “please know that you made a difference in the lives of others and we will continue to carry on that mission.”
The service also included a reading of the Beatitudes, sprinkling of holy water and the Lord’s prayer. Police officers fired a 21-gun salute and Taps was played.
The final radio call with Mohl’s badge number was broadcast near the end of the ceremony — “Troop L to 283 ... Thank you for your dedication and service. Your brothers and sisters will take the watch from here.”