At the Candlelight Vigil
His life is the party Manchester Local 246 brothers turn Vigil into special celebration for Thompson family
n BY MITCHELL KRUGEL
The band of brothers from Manchester Township Local 246 dressed in their Class A uniforms, posed for pictures, told stories and turned the Candlelight Vigil into, well, a celebration. They had good reason to party; one of their own was being honored.
Corporal Scott Thompson had fallen due to a heart attack suffered while working out in the police department fitness center on April 10, 2105. His wife Tracy, the love of his life he had known since he was 12 years old, and their daughters Kelsey and Sydney, talked about the laughs and fun they were having remembering Scott with the 16 Manchester officers, including Chief Lisa Parker, who had also come to the Vigil.
“ I like to use the words‘ tragically beautiful’ describing the past year,” Tracy Thompson shared.“ That has been my life the past year – sadness, but a lot of joy.”
The brothers of Local 246 – there are 65 of them and one female, Chief Parker – have been coming to the Vigil as long as anyone can remember. They have come every year prior to honor and support the family of Manchester Patrolman Robert Tobias, who was lost in the line of duty in 1975 and whose mother Eleanor and sister Denise still come to Police Week with members of the department.
This year, 12 of them also rode the Unity Tour, led by Local 246 State Delegate Artie Cronk who made the Tour for the 11th consecutive year. This year, he pedaled a little harder to get to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial where he had the chance to see Thompson’ s name inscribed on the Memorial Wall.
“ To see his name on the Wall was a dose of reality, but it is a well-deserved honor,” Cronk confided.“ Scott was a cop’ s cop, a man’ s man. He loved what he did, and there is no better way to honor a brother like that.”
If this was a night to tell stories in reverence to Thompson, Chief Parker had a good one. She told about how he loved protecting his family, loved being an officer, loved the badge, the uniform and getting in his car when muster finished and going out to patrol the roads. But that’ s not the story.
“ Scott loved terrorizing the motorists into being safe,” she continued.“ To him, being pro-active was preventative in terms of accidents and people getting injured and hurt. That was his thing. He was the motor vehicle guy.” But wait, that’ s not the story.“ Scott was No. 1 in tickets almost every month,” the chief went on.“ Scottie died on April 10, but for that month of April he was still No. 1 in summonses.”
They could go on about Thompson, and they did as if being at the Vigil was tantamount to sitting around the campfire. They talked about how his seat in the muster room has gone
40 NEW JERSEY COPS ■ JUNE 2016
Scott Thompson’ s family, from left, daughters Kelsey and Sydney and wife Tracy.
untouched save for a banner with his badge number there and a hammer that pays homage to his love of the Viking ways. The plaque outside the newly-named“ Corporal Scott Thompson Fitness Center” that dedicates the gym to Thompson reads,“ Through these walls, warriors are made.”
“ He’ s our Viking,” Local 246 member Douglas Higgins emphasized.“ He was the backbone of our department.”
Perhaps the only drawback to this celebration taking place in Washington, D. C. is that Thompson was not there to enjoy the party. On the other hand, if you ask Tracy and the girls, he was there.
Tracy says she is always seeing signs of his presence; she swears he made the sun come out on a previously rainy afternoon the day of the Vigil. And, like many survivors, she added that she felt his presence when she and the girls went to the Memorial Wall the day before when Kelsey and Sydney took an etching of Scott’ s name to bring home and frame.
“ It’ s pretty amazing that my dad is forever honored and remembered,” Kelsey Thompson said.“ He was so passionate about police work. It’ s just nice to continue his passion by attending these events and being a part of it still as a family.”
Chief Parker confirms that the Thompsons will always be part of the Local 246 family, that they will be the guests of honor at every PBA dinner or event they can attend, just like the Tobias family. Scott will always be the king of the road for the Manchester PD, and Tracy related that there was no reason to shed anything but tears of joy on this tragically beautiful night.
“ He would have loved it, and that’ s what we’ re here for,” Tracy declared.“ It’ s been one big family. It’ s deeper than family.” d