{"id":141927,"date":"2026-03-18T18:30:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-18T18:30:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/141927\/"},"modified":"2026-03-18T18:30:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T18:30:08","slug":"fallen-pennsylvania-state-police-corporal-remembered-as-dedicated-trooper-and-devoted-family-man","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/141927\/","title":{"rendered":"Fallen Pennsylvania State Police corporal remembered as dedicated trooper and devoted family man"},"content":{"rendered":"

A funeral service was held Wednesday for Pennsylvania State Police Corporal Timothy O’Connor Jr., who was shot and killed while conducting a traffic stop<\/a> earlier this month.<\/p>\n

Family members, fellow state troopers and law enforcement officers from across Pennsylvania and beyond gathered at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Downingtown to honor O’Connor’s life and service.<\/p>\n

During the service, O’Connor was remembered as both a dedicated trooper and a devoted family man.<\/p>\n

Casey O’Connor, widow of Cpl. Timothy O’Connor, speaks at funeral service<\/p>\n

“I hit the husband lottery. He was raised to be a true partner in our marriage and to put our needs above his own,” his widow, Casey O’Connor, said. “He worked hard to build us a beautiful life.”<\/p>\n

In her closing remarks at the funeral, Casey O’Connor added a brief personal note.<\/p>\n

“Now my last remarks might seem strange, but I already spoke with Father Auletta and it’s okay to say it back,” she said, and then continued, “Go Birds.”<\/p>\n

Pennsylvania State Police Acting Commissioner Lt. Col. George L. Bivens also spoke, saying, “He was a son, a husband, a father, a colleague, and a protector of the people of this commonwealth.”<\/p>\n

Acting Commissioner Lt. Col. George Bivens speaks at funeral for Cpl. Timothy O’Connor<\/p>\n

O’Connor was a 15-year veteran of the Pennsylvania State Police. At the funeral, speakers reflected on his service to the department, his mentorship through programs such as Camp Cadet, and his role as a husband and father.<\/p>\n

Community mourning loss of trooper killed during traffic stop<\/p>\n

Outside the church, lines of officers surrounded the building as an American flag was raised high by cranes, a visible sign of respect from the law enforcement community.<\/p>\n

The funeral followed a public viewing held Tuesday<\/a>, when hundreds of people, including police officers from departments across the region, paid their respects.<\/p>\n

Philadelphia Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel attended the viewing and said it was important to show support for O’Connor’s family.<\/p>\n

“It’s important that I bring my entire team down here to show that honor and that reverence to his family that his work matters. That he mattered,” Bethel said.<\/p>\n

O’Connor, 40, was killed March 8 after stopping an erratic driver in West Caln Township.<\/p>\n

Police said that within seconds of approaching the vehicle, the driver opened fire, killing O’Connor.<\/p>\n

Authorities identified the driver as 32-year-old Jesse Elks, who then turned the gun on himself.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A funeral service was held Wednesday for Pennsylvania State Police Corporal Timothy O’Connor Jr., who was shot and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":141928,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[64979,64978,64980,5872,28,30,29,1224,34045,61637],"class_list":["post-141927","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pennsylvania","tag-casey-o39connor","tag-corporal-timothy-o39connor-jr","tag-funeral-service","tag-law-enforcement-officers","tag-pennsylvania","tag-pennsylvania-headlines","tag-pennsylvania-news","tag-pennsylvania-state-police","tag-police-commissioner","tag-timothy-o39connor"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141927","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=141927"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141927\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/141928"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=141927"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=141927"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=141927"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}