Some of the most moving tributes to the inspirational life of a genuine local hero, New Haven police officer Robert Fumiatti, came outside his funeral.
The funeral was marked by a solemn procession featuring hundreds of officers from around the state, a moving dirge of police bagpipers, and, most of all, deeply affectionate memories. People shared those memories with each other both inside and out of Our Lady of Victory Church in West Haven, where a mass of Christian burial was held for him on Saturday morning. On Jan. 10 Officer Fumiatti died of a heart attack which may be linked to injuries incurred when he was shot during a drug raid in 2002.
Although dignitaries such as Mayor John DeStefano and Police Chief Francisco Ortiz were to make formal funeral remarks during the service, eulogies, more modest but equally as moving, had already begun hours before the service began. They were shared among the remarkable number of friends and neighbors Officer Fumiatti had touched in his brief life. They gathered, beneath a persistent drizzle, over a mile-long route along flag-lined Platt Avenue leading up to the church.
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“He was a hockey coach, a cop, a friend to absolutely everyone, especially the kids,” said Marion Sacco (to the right in the photo, with her daughter Nikki Russell Sacco and eight-month-old Maile). “He always had a big kiss for me when he saw me,” she said. Sacco, whose son is a NHPD officer and was a good friend of Fumiatti, added, “When you say the name Fumiatti, everyone in this town smiles. I can’t believe that after all he went through, this had to happen.”
p(clear). Officer Fumiatti, who was shot in the face during a narcotics raid in June 2002, went through a painful rehabilitation, but remarkably returned to service a year and a half later, serving in the Narcotics Enforcement unit. His last “road” assignment, as police officers say, was as a dog handler, working with his drug-sniffing labrador, Major.
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Which explained why dozens of police dogs and their handlers — including State Trooper First Class William Csontos, and his yellow Lab, Ruby — were also in formal attendance. Csontos, an instructor with the state police canine unit, had trained Fumiatti after he was selected by his department in 2005 to be part of the NHPD’s relatively new narcotics dog program. “How he loved animals!” Santos said, “and he had great heart. He graduated with top honors.”
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None of that would have surprised East Haven Police Officer Brian Kelley (on the left with his shepherd Brix) or Connecticut State Trooper Brian Faughnan (with his dog Sirius, the mythological god of dogs, by the way). Both Kelley and Faughnan were childhood friends of Fumiatti, shared Fumiatti’s passion for dogs (they are both police dog handlers now too!), and played hockey alongside wingman Fumiatti on the West Haven High School Blue Devils. “As an adult, Bobby was as enthusiastic as he was as a kid. Bobby Fume, that’s what we called him. Always positive, always with a smile, and how he loved the canine unit,” said Officer Faughnan.
p(clear). “The day he died,” added Kelley, “he spoke to us that he wanted to do a calendar using police dogs to raise money for the unit. We told him we’d do it, but we’ve decided to make the beneficiaries his wife and kids.”
p(clear). As the hearse bearing Officer Fumiatti’s body neared the church entrance, the rain seemed to let up. The dogs began baying as the bagpipers formed up at the top of a little rise, and began their solemn, accompanying descent.
p(clear). Still, neighbors, like Tracy Merola (with her half pug, half beagle Brutus), who lives on the same block as the Fumiattis, were only too pleased, amid the sadness, to speak of their evident joy in having known this remarkable guy. “I first knew Rob in high school. He was a few years younger than me, but he was so involved in everything. Not just hockey, but the PTA over at the Seth Haley School, where I have a ten-year-old, and he has a child enrolled also. What a loving guy and loving family. I mean he’d do something for anyone, and at the drop of a dime. I mean, look around,” she said, “at all the people he affected, people of all ages.”
p(clear). Inside the church, packed end to end with mourners, one could see children, teary-eyed, resting their heads on the arms of solemn parents. Officer Fumiatti’s coffin lay, draped in white with red crimson ribbons. “Give Robert eternal rest, Lord,” said the presiding priest, Father Joe Cronin, “and may perpetual light shine on him forever.” Father Tiano, now of Torrington but who had served at Our Lady of Victory, then said, “I recently got a phone call from Rob. ‘This is Rob, the one and only,’ he said in his phone message. And that indeed is what he was to God, the one and only. He belonged to that rare fraternity of those who care for the community.”
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In his eulogy, Mayor DeStefano said, “He was a genuine hero not because he was shot, but because he lived, and despite his evident continuing pain, did so much, and struggled and in so doing taught us courage. He taught us how to live for and with one another. That’s why we honor him.” Recalling Officer Dan Picagli, the mayor noted that Robert Fumiatti was the 19th officer to die in the line of duty in the history of the NHPD.
p(clear). “He was our moral compass and role model,” said Police Chief Francisco Ortiz in his eulogy. “The person he was simply reminded us, every day he was with us, to love, to listen, to be compassionate, and to take care of the most vulnerable people in the society. He saw the good in everyone. No matter who, even the people who shot him, everyone had potential. He reminded us that police officers can, and do matter, profoundly.”
p(clear). Chief Ortiz concluded by directly addressing Officer Fumiatti’s children, Madelyn, Caitlin, and Vincent, “Your dad was also a hero long before he became an officer.”
p(clear). Bishop Henry Mansell, the archbishop of Hartford, added the culminating thought: “To have come back from such an injury showed not only uncommon valor, but spirit. That’s the thing that makes us uniquely human. Remember also that his death places a lein on us; we benefit from his sacrifice. Through his example we must do more to end the scourge of drug addiction.”
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Outside, the coffin was placed in the hearse for burial at the nearby Orange Center Cemetery. Still there were more people who had known Officer Fumiatti well, giving their tribute in their own way. A friend, Curt Mansean, superintendent of apparatus with the West Haven Fire Department, was holding the jersey of the hockey team of the NHPD, of the kind Fumiatti wore in the 11 benefit games he helped organize and played in. Lt. Rob Celentano of the NHFD, in the middle in the picture, played against Fumiatti in many a NHPD versus NHFD benefit battle. “He’d get in your face, but then, afterwards, say to you, ‘Great game.’”
p(clear). Finally, another friend, Joe Morrell, on the right, who is the current coach of the West Haven High School Blue Devils hockey team, recollected: “How he loved the game, and how much he helped us, big time. I remember, in particular, one game between us and Hamden High, which is the major high school hockey rivalry in the state. It was in 2003. Bobby Fume had been by then fitted with a “halo” (ed: a brace-type device to keep the neck immobile to allow healing). He came into the locker room as the kids were suiting up before the game and gave an inspirational talk. They were always great talks. But this time, before this really important game, he, honest to God, ripped the “halo” off his neck and said, ‘Look, if I can do this, if I can live with this, you can win this game.’ And you know something? We did.”
p(clear). In addition to his children, Officer Fumiatti is survived by his wife Stacey, and an extended family, and community. Contributions can be made to Fumiatti Children’s Fund, c/o New Alliance Bank, attn: Donna Tringhese, 322 Main Street, West Haven 06516.
p(clear). Lt. Celentano also said that a radiothon to benefit the family is planned for Monday and Tuesday from 5:00 to 10:00 A.M. on the the WPLR (99.1) morning show.