Broward sheriff’s deputy dies from brain cancer; wake today
A wake will be held today for Broward sheriff’s Deputy Thomas O’Keefe, who died after an eight-year struggle against brain cancer, his agency said.
O’Keefe was 31 when he died Saturday. Survivors include his wife, Jessica; daughter Mackenzie, 10 months; father, Thomas O’Keefe Jr., a retired law enforcement officer; and mother, Leslie O’Keefe; BSO spokeswoman Dani Moschella said.
Deputy O’Keefe was a third-generation law enforcement officer and began his BSO career in 2003, when he was19. He served in the agency’s Tamarac, Deerfield Beach and Dania Beach districts, and in multiple units in BSO’s strategic investigations division, Moschella said.
“He was a fighter,” Jessica O’Keefe said in a statement released by the agency. “He fought this for so many years and never complained. He was very easygoing, very positive, and he loved his family.”
O’Keefe’s father, Thomas O’Keefe Jr., was a Miami- Dade detective for 27 years, and his grandfather, Thomas O’Keefe Sr., was a Boston police officer for three decades, BSO said.
The wake will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. at T.M. Ralph Funeral Home, 371 NW136 Ave., Sunrise. Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday at the First Baptist Church of Fort Lauderdale, 301E. Broward Blvd.
The family has requested that rather than sending flowers, friends donate to the American Brain Tumor Association, 8550 W. Bryn Mawr Ave., Suite 550, Chicago, IL 60631.