Funeral services set for beloved police sergeant
Clearcreek Twp. police Sgt. Larry Cornett is to be buried on Friday in a special service that will include a 21-gun salute and ceremonial last call.
Cornett, 43, died Saturday at his home in Clarksville. An autopsy is pending.
On Friday, a dispatcher will call his number on the Warren County police radio channel.
“Of course, he will not answer. They will acknowledge that’s his last call,” Clearcreek Police Chief John Terrill said Tuesday.
A police officer in the northern Warren County township since 1998, Cornett was also an active Mason and helped with charitable causes, particularly the Special Olympics. He was a husband and the father of two sons.
Special Masonic and Scottish Rite Ring services are to follow the public visitation from 3 to 8 p.m. Thursday at Crossview Christian Church, 4237 E. Social Row Road in Waynesville.
He was past master of Waynesville Masonic Lodge No. 163, past district deputy grand master for the 2nd Masonic District, worthy patron of Miami Chapter No. 107 O.E.S, and orator of the Dayton Chapter of Rose Croix.
During the visitation, the casket will be guarded by sheriff ’s deputies, then officers from the township department.
Officers from every department in the county will be represented at the procession leading to the service at Miami Cemetery in Corwin.
Cornett, the department’s investigator, was known for working cases involving children.
“It’s kind of fitting that the
last case he worked was of a child in need,” Terrill said, describing the investigation as involving a custody issue with a child who was out of the continental U.S.
The Larry B. Cornett Memorial Fund has been established in care of the Wright-Patt Credit Union. All gifts are to benefit his two sons, Bryan and Oscar.
Cornett graduated from Waynesville High School and attended Otterbein University.
He is survived by his wife, Rachel (Howell) Cornett; two sons, Bryan Christopher and Oscar Henry Cornett; his parents Larry M. and Theresa Cornett; and his sister, Tonya Cornett.
“I enjoyed my time with Larry, though it was way too short. Larry was one of those guys you just instantly liked and trusted. I will miss him,” Doyle Burke, chief investigator for the Warren County Coroner’s Office, wrote in a condolence posted at www. stubbsconner.com.
In sympathy, food has been dropped off at the township station and callers have expressed condolences.
“I had a gentleman calling three times crying,” Terrill said.
On Wednesday, Cornett’s cruiser is to be parked on Ohio 73 in front of the township station, with a wreath on the hood.
Look for a yet-to-be composed message on the township’s warning sign for speeders.
“We’re going to miss him,” Terrill said.