It was most fitting that the first car to travel on the newly minted Officer Dennis McNamara Memorial Highway Monday was the very patrol car the Upper Darby patrolman was driving 15 years ago.
McNamara was responding to a report of a suspicious car on Cardington Road. As he investigated, he was approached by a career criminal and outlaw biker who opened fire on the officer. McNamara was left to die in the street, while the suspect fled.
Yesterday, township and county officials, as well as McNamara's widow again converged on a township street, but this time it was to honor the slain officer, as well as mourn his passing.
A portion of Lansdowne Avenue was officially renamed the Officer Dennis McNamara Memorial Highway. Signs will note the importance of the stretch of road, which runs next to McNamara's final resting spot in Arlington Cemetery.
You can read our complete coverage of the event here.
It's a reminder of something police officers stress all the time. There really is no such thing as a routine call. Danger lurks around every corner.
State Rep. Jamie Santora, R-163, of Upper Darby, and Sen. Tom McGarrigle, R-26, worked to get the measure approved.
Fifteen years can slip by in the blink of an eye.
Unless, of course, you are mourning a husband, a father, a valued colleague.
Dennis McNamara had much to offer.
It was snatched away in a moment of terror by a craven, unthinking career criminal who was thinking only of not returning jail.
Instead, he sentenced those who knew McNamara to a lifetime of wondering why.
We salute the effort to honor Dennis McNamara, and continue to mourn his absence.
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