Montco vigil honors victims
MONTGOMERY TWP. >> Tears were shed, comforting hugs were shared and cherished lives lost to violence were remembered April 11 at a candlelight vigil in Montgomery Township to honor homicide victims and fallen police officers in Montgomery County over the years.
“Though your loved one has been stolen from you by violence, your memories can never be stolen,” said Mary Onama, executive director of Victim Services Center of Montgomery County, before hundreds of people — families and friends of victims and dozens of law enforcement officers from departments across the county — gathered at the Montgomery Township Community and Recreation Center for the 27th such vigil VSC has hosted.
Eleven people killed in last year were added to the long list of names read during the solemn hourlong memorial service.
“Eleven lives cut short by violence, bullets, knives, hatred,” intoned Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele. “These 11 murders shattered 11 families and 11 circles of friends ... We all must vow never to forget those whose lives have been taken from us.”
Among those 11 names read for the first time was Robert E. “Robby” Braxton III, 27, who was killed nearly a year ago — on April 24, 2016 — in a fatal shooting inside a Montgomery Township church.
“It hurts, it really hurts,” said Braxton’s father, Robert Braxton Jr., choking back sobs as the tearstained faces of dozens of the slain man’s friends and family members — most wearing memorial T-shirts bearing Robby’s smiling face — looked on and listened to his father talk about Braxton’s deep religious faith and his mission to help everyone he encountered, from homeless people in North Philadelphia to those closest to him struggling in silence.
Braxton’s father extended his sympathies to everyone in the room who had been touched by the same kind of pain that he has, and more tears flowed when he said that if his son could speak to him now, he’d say, simply, “Dad, I’m just waiting for you.”
“Those of us in law enforcement are truly humbled by the sacrifices and the courage of the families and friends gathered here,” Towamencin police Chief Tim Dickinson told the crowd. “You have suffered a loss that many of us will never be able to fully comprehend . ... All we can do is offer our pledge to do our best for you. Please know that we stand beside you.”
Whitpain police Chief Kenneth Lawson and Montgomery Township police Chief Scott Bendig read the names of all the Montgomery County law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty, then nearly a dozen different law enforcement officers — from the Norristown, Abington, Lansdale, Horsham, Telford, Plymouth, Springfield and Whitpain police departments — took turns reading the hundreds of names of those lost to violent crime in Montgomery County.
The solemn ceremony concluded with everyone in attendance going outside to light candles and stand together in the grass, sharing their grief under a striking sky painted with the pastels of a setting sun. Several people remarked how lovely it looked up above, staring skyward and smiling slightly, accepting solace from wherever it was offered.