{"id":289687,"date":"2026-09-19T14:10:29","date_gmt":"2026-09-19T14:10:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/289687\/"},"modified":"2026-09-19T14:10:29","modified_gmt":"2026-09-19T14:10:29","slug":"north-schuylkill-honors-fallen-trooper-michael-pahira-during-pregame-tribute","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/289687\/","title":{"rendered":"North Schuylkill Honors Fallen Trooper Michael Pahira During Pregame Tribute"},"content":{"rendered":"

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North Schuylkill honored the life, service and sacrifice of fallen Pennsylvania State Police Trooper First Class Michael E. Pahira Jr. during a moving ceremony Friday night at Spartan Stadium.<\/p>\n

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The tribute was held before the Spartans\u2019 football game against Mount Carmel Area and brought together Pahira\u2019s family, members of the Pennsylvania State Police and the North Schuylkill community.<\/p>\n

Tribute at Spartan Stadium<\/p>\n

As part of the ceremony, a game ball signed by the entire North Schuylkill football team was presented in Pahira\u2019s memory by his mom Patti.<\/p>\n

Pahira\u2019s father, Michael Pahira Sr., joined the team captains along with his family at midfield and conducted the ceremonial coin toss before kickoff. Pahira\u2019s nieces carried a North Schuylkill Spartans jersey bearing No. 74, the number he wore while playing football in high school.<\/p>\n

Pennsylvania State Police troopers stood with the family during the tribute as those inside the stadium observed a moment of silence. The ceremony also included a Pennsylvania State Police helicopter flyover above Spartan Stadium.<\/p>\n

North Schuylkill students carried out a Country and Western theme in Pahira\u2019s honor, filling the student section with cowboy hats, boots, flannel and denim.<\/p>\n

Remembering Michael Pahira<\/p>\n

Pahira, 44, of Ashland, was a 2001 graduate of North Schuylkill High School, where he played football and was a standout wrestler. He later competed in wrestling at East Stroudsburg University before beginning a nearly two-decade career with the Pennsylvania State Police.<\/p>\n

Pahira died in the line of duty on July 1 after being struck by a commercial vehicle while conducting a motor carrier safety inspection along Interstate 81 in Cass Township.<\/p>\n

Friday\u2019s tribute offered the North Schuylkill community another opportunity to remember one of its own and recognize a legacy of service and sacrifice that will not be forgotten.<\/p>\n

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