Sergeant called humble, servant

Hundreds attend police union leader’s memorial

In a ceremony much larger than he’d have asked for, Fort Lauderdale police Sgt. Jack Lokeinsky was remembered Monday as a smart, compassionate public servant, and a mischievous prankster who brightened lives around him with laughter.

Lokeinsky, a 29-year officer with Fort Lauderdale and head of the Fraternal Order of Police union, was 52 when he died of pancreatic cancer May 11. His wife and two daughters, and his mother, were at Monday’s service.

The funeral, held in the 2,700-seat Broward Center for the Performing Arts, was attended by hundreds of police officers, sheriff ’s deputies, some judges and prosecutors, Broward Sheriff Scott Israel, former Sheriff Ken Jenne, Broward State Attorney Mike Satz, and former Fort Lauderdale police chiefs Bruce Roberts (now a city commissioner) and Frank Adderley.

The service and its procession required closure of roads downtown. An electronic message board on Broward Boulevard warned those entering at morning rush hour to “Expect Delays.”

At the service, Lokeinsky was called a humble man who didn’t think he deserved such a ceremony. Police Chief Rick Maglione said Lokeinsky told him that “ceremonies like this are for the real heroes.”

But Maglione said he told Lokeinsky that a hero is defined by what they do in life, not how they die.

He said Lokeinsky removed dangerous people from the streets, fought fiercely for his fellow officers, and randomly helped others, picking up restaurant checks for veterans, for example.

Union president and longtime friend

SUSAN STOCKER/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Sgt. Jack Lokeinsky, a 29-year officer with Fort Lauderdale and head of the Fraternal Order of Police union, was 52 when he died of pancreatic cancer May 11.