BY JANE PRENDERGAST
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Blue ribbons near the Northern Kentucky Police Memorial in memory of Officer Mike Partin. Partin's remains were discovered in the Ohio River Monday.
(Ernest Coleman photo)
| ZOOM |
|
COVINGTON -- The same kind of all-out support that mobilized the day Officer Mike Partin disappeared is back, this time to help carry out his funeral and burial.
Mike Partin
|
Virtually every Covington officer is involved in some way with the planning for the Thursday visitation and Friday service.
They're calling florists, ordering food for a police reception, finding colleagues to man dozens of posts along the processional route. And help is coming from other departments, too, including the Cincinnati Police Division, which has been helping plan the funeral for months.
Eight Cincinnati officers crossed the river for a meeting Tuesday, helping the Covington department with its plans. Having buried two officers in December, they have the planning experience needed. Until Officer Partin fell into the Ohio River from the Clay Wade Bailey Bridge early Jan. 4, Covington hadn't lost an officer in almost 30 years.
"We just want to make it the best we can," said Lt. Col. Steve Schmidt, spokesman for the Covington department.
Officer Partin's remains were found Monday along the Cincinnati side of the river, about 9 1/2 miles from where he fell in.
A procession will carry the officer's body from Allison & Rose Funeral Home in Taylor Mill to St. Timothy's Episcopal Church in Anderson Township. It is the same church where he and his wife, Lisa, were married in April 1997.
Officer Partin will be buried Friday morning in Highland Cemetery in Fort Mitchell.
His wife chose the plot after learning the cemetery is the resting place for some Civil War veterans. Officer Partin was interested in history.
Mrs. Partin had been monitoring the temperature of the river for weeks, knowing that chances for finding him got better as the water warmed. It was 66 degrees when he was found Monday, up from 55 six weeks ago.
The Kenton County Police Department was among those that offered Covington help with anything from traffic control along the procession route to handling the department's calls.
Said Capt. Ed Butler: "Whatever it takes."
Family and police officers will have their own private visitation times. Public visitation will be 3 to 8 p.m. Thursday at Allison & Rose Funeral Home, Taylor Mill. The Fraternal Order of Police will conduct a service at 7:30 p.m.
The officer's funeral will be 10 a.m. Friday at St. Timothy's. A procession will follow to the cemetery.
Officer Partin also is survived by a stepdaughter, Sara Smith of Taylor Mill; his parents, Dave and Ruth Evers of Cincinnati and Louis and Karen Partin of Anderson Township; a sister, Angela of Lebanon; and two brothers, Brandon of Anderson Township and Joey of Union Township, Clermont County.
The family asks that memorial donations go to the Michael Anthony Partin Scholarship Fund, c/o Northern Kentucky University, Highland Heights 41099.
