PEABODY — The Police Department lost one of its own last week with the death of Officer Henry Breckenridge.
Breckenridge, 40, died from complications during a non-emergency surgery at Salem Hospital.
Police Chief Tom Griffin said in a statement that Breckenridge was an outstanding community police officer and was well-regarded among many.
“Henry was one of the nicest and most gentle people I have had the honor to know,” Griffin said in a statement. “The Breckenridge family is devastated and Henry’s brothers and sisters in law enforcement support them and share in their grief.”
Mayor Ted Bettencourt, who said he coached Breckenridge in Little League, said the loss is not just one for the Police Department, but for the entire community.
“He knew so many people in our city and really made an impact in so many positive ways,” Bettencourt said. “This is a devastating blow and we are really going to miss him.”
Breckenridge was a star linebacker for Bishop Fenwick High School football and was honored as an Item All-Star in 1999, winning an MIAA Division Four Super Bowl with the team that season before becoming a standout with the East Stroudsburg University Warriors football team.
According to LinkedIn, Breckenridge graduated with degrees in economics and marketing from East Stroudsburg in 2006 and became a patrolman with the Peabody Police Department in 2016.
Breckenridge’s death has been met with an outpouring of community support for his family, with hundreds of messages mourning his loss on Peabody PD’s Facebook.
“I knew he helped and knew an incredible amount of people and the well wishes and the outreach have confirmed how much he meant to the city of Peabody,” Breckenridge’s brother Robert Breckenridge wrote in a Facebook post.
Around $30,000 has been raised in less than a week as of Sunday through a GoFundMe in his memory.
According to Robert Breckenridge on Facebook, a wake for his brother will be held at Conway Cahill-Brodeur Funeral Home & Cremation Care on Tuesday from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., with a funeral scheduled at St. Stephen’s Church in Lynn for 11 a.m. Wednesday.
