Fallen Massachusetts State Police Trooper Kevin Trainor remembered as hero at funeral: "One of the bravest"

Massachusetts State Police Trooper Kevin Trainor was hailed as a hero during his funeral Wednesday morning, exactly one week after he was killed trying to stop a wrong-way driver.

The funeral Mass took place at St. James Church on Federal Street in Salem. 

Trainor leaves behind his fiancée Jessica, his mother Barbara, a sister and three brothers. After the funeral, there was a ceremony outside the church with a Massachusetts State Police Air Wing flyover. 

The casket was placed in the street in the middle of a four-way intersection, while a sea of troopers stood in formation nearby. Trainor's fiancée and mother, who sat nearby during the ceremony along with other family members, were presented with flags that draped his casket.

"A hero of our state"

Trainor died just after 2 a.m. on May 6 at the end of his shift on Route 1 in Lynnfield. A Jeep driven by 50-year-old Hernan Marrero slammed head-on into Trainor's SUV, killing both of them. Trainor, who lived in Georgetown, was just 30 years old.  

Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey was the first speaker at the funeral. She told Trainor's mother that "you raised a hero."

"Today, we lay to rest a hero of our state. Someone who embodied our highest ideals. Courage and character. Strength and selflessness. And he lived them every day of his life," Healey said.

Healey highlighted that Trainor's actions likely saved the lives of other drivers who were on the road that morning.

"They didn't know that they would need Kevin to protect them. But they did. Kevin was there for them, just as he would have been for any one of us," Healey said. "In fact, he was there for all us, even after his detail was done and he was on his way home, he answered the call without hesitation. That's who Kevin was."

Friend calls Kevin Trainor "one of the bravest heroes"

Massachusetts State Police Col. Geoffrey Noble spoke next, saying that Trainor "was and will always be the epitome of a police officer, a state trooper."

Trooper Anthony Angelusco, one of Trainor's closest friends, gave the eulogy. 

"Kevin was the type of person that would not hesitate to drop what he was doing, as long as it meant he got to help someone he cared about. He was a selfless friend who had nothing but the best intentions," Angelusco said.

Like Healey, Angelusco remembered Trainor as a hero.

"If there's a way to go out, it would be keeping a dangerous driver off the road and keeping the public safe for the very last time," Angelusco said. "Kevin ended his career that night by making the greatest sacrifice one can do and unknowingly saving the lives of everyone behind him. For that sacrifice, Kevin will always be remembered as one of the bravest heroes I've had the honor to call my best friend."

Trainor grew up in Salem, Massachusetts and joined the State Police in 2023 after serving as a corrections officer in Essex County.

Hundreds of law enforcement officers paid tribute to the trooper at a wake Tuesday evening in Peabody.

Streets around the church were closed early in the morning to accommodate Trainor's family, friends and the large police presence there. After the Mass, there was a procession down Flint Street to the cemetery where a private burial service took place.

Trainor's family wrote in his obituary that he "took immense pride in protecting and serving" the people of Massachusetts.

"From an early age, Kevin possessed a deep sense of loyalty, integrity, and compassion for others - qualities that would define both his personal life and professional career," they said.