More than 3,000 people are expected to attend the funeral of slain Denver police Detective Donald “Donnie” Young on Friday, and thousands more will pay their respects along the route to his final resting place.
A funeral Mass will be take place at the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception starting at 10:30 a.m. Afterward, there will be a procession to Fort Logan National Cemetery in southwest Denver, where Young will be buried. Police officers from throughout Colorado and surrounding states are expected to attend.
Traditional pageantry to honor an officer killed in the line of duty – which can include the playing of taps and bagpipes, a 21-gun salute by a full-dress honor guard, and presentation of a riderless police horse – will accentuate the solemn day.
“What the pageantry does is bring together men and women of all faiths with a commonality. You talk about bleeding blue. It is very real,” said the Rev. Gino Geraci, a chaplain with the Denver Police Department. “It’s about camaraderie and unity. Police officers aren’t kidding when they say, ‘You hurt one of us, you hurt all of us.”‘
Denver Police Chief Gerry Whitman will pay homage to Young, 48, a father of two girls and a 12-year veteran of the department, at the Mass. Denver Roman Catholic Archbishop Charles Chaput will be the main celebrant.
“We are doing what we can to support and help the Police Department and the family in honoring Mr. Young,” said Sergio Gutierrez, a spokesman for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Denver. “It is an important and very sad event for the community, so we are doing what we can.”
Young was gunned down early Sunday, shot in the back of the head as he worked off-duty but in uniform at a private gathering in southwest Denver. Fellow Detective John Bishop was also shot but survived.
The funeral, burial and private gatherings afterward will be a way for police officers, from near and far, to express condolences to Young’s family, friends and colleagues.
The streets immediately around the basilica will be shut down Friday, starting about 9 a.m., and a jumbo TV screen will be set up at Logan Street and East Colfax Avenue so mourners who can’t get into the church will be able to view the funeral.
More than 3,000 mourners are expected to show up at the basilica, on Colfax between Logan and Pennsylvania streets. The church has a seating capacity of 800.
The procession to the cemetery is expected to start about noon, and police escorts will alternate shutting down streets along the 12-mile, 20-minute route to the grave site. Young served in the U.S. Navy.
The burial service is scheduled to start at 2 p.m.
The public is expected to turn out in droves to honor a man whose life’s work was to protect them.
“When I have done these types of arrangements in the past, people come out and they stand in the street along the procession route, and they put their hands over their hearts, or they salute, as it goes by,” said John Horan, president of Horan & McConaty funeral service, which is coordinating the service with police and the archdiocese. “I can’t tell you how much that means to the family and the Denver Police Department, that people come out and show their respect.”
Staff writer Kieran Nicholson can be reached at 303-820-1822 or knicholson@denverpost.com.
