LEOMINSTER (CBS) – Friends and family paid their last respects to a fallen Leominster Marine on Tuesday.
A funeral mass was held for Navy Captain Ross Reynolds at St. Cecilia’s Church on Mechanic Street. A horse-drawn carriage carried the coffin in a procession from City Hall, where the vigil was held on Monday, to the church for the service.
Reynolds was one of four Marines killed when their plane crushed during a NATO exercise in Norway on March 18. He was an Osprey pilot and joined the Marine Corps in May 2017.
Reynolds was 27 and leaves behind a wife. They married in February.
“My heart goes out to Lana, I can’t even imagine being in her shoes,” said her childhood friend Tiffany Thibodeau. “The flag meant a lot to him and the country meant a lot to him.”
“We’re a very tight-knit community, I get emotional,” said Leominster resident John Bulger, one of many who came to pay their respects on Tuesday. “When you lose someone in the community, that’s when you need to show your support, come together.”
“I just wanted to support the family. I think about how I would feel,” resident Hannah Burchell told WBZ-TV.
The horse-drawn carriage carrying the coffin for the funeral of Navy Captain Ross Reynolds in Leominster, April 5, 2022. (WBZ-TV)
“To have someone in our own community die at such a young age so suddenly, so unexpectedly. Our heart comes from his family,” said resident Ardith McDonald. “I love coming together in happy times and sad times and I’m so grateful that we were able to express our condolences as we did on this occasion.”
“Super sad, but it’s amazing to see everyone coming together for this family and supporting the family,” said resident Christina St. Onge.
Governor Charlie Baker also attended the funeral.
A private burial was held after the funeral at Massachusetts Veterans Cemetery in Winchendon.
