Reminder: Worcester Officer's Funeral May Mean Travel Delays

WORCESTER, MA — For the third time since Worcester firefighter Christopher Roy's death in 2018, Worcester will stage a ceremony for a public servant who died in the line of duty, and thousands of people are expected to converge on the city for the solemn event.

The Thursday funeral for Worcester Officer Enmanuel "Manny" Familia — who drowned Friday attempting to rescue Troy Love, 14, from the pond at Green Hill Park — will mirror the large public funerals held for Roy in December 2019 and Worcester Lt. Jason Menard in November 2019.

There will be street closures with officials expecting an additional 5,000 or more people in the Canal District and around Union Station. Police officers from across the state, nation and possibly overseas will attend, and many will line up along the procession route to St. John's Church.

The funeral mass will be followed by a private burial ceremony in the Webster Square area at St. John's Cemetery.

Whether you want to attend the funeral for Familia or are concerned about traffic during the event, here's what to expect Thursday:

Funeral procession

Familia will be picked up Thursday morning around 9 a.m. at the Mercadante Funeral Home along Plantation Street near the UMass Memorial Medical Center University Campus. From there, a caravan will transport Familia west along Belmont Street to police headquarters. The caravan will cause brief closures along that route between 9 and about 9:30 a.m.

Once at police headquarters, Familia's casket will be transferred to a horse-drawn carriage. Goldsberry Street in front of headquarters will be completely closed to traffic during the transfer.

From there, a slower procession with the horse-drawn carriage will travel south along Major Taylor Boulevard, then to the rotary outside Union Station and then up Temple Street to St. John's.

During the procession, Front Street, Washington Square, Grafton Street and Temple street will be completely shut down in the neighborhood around the church.

Cemetery procession

The funeral mass may last between an hour and 90 minutes. Around 12:30 p.m., the caravan will take Familia to St. John’s Cemetery along Cambridge Street for a burial ceremony.

The route will travel south along Green Street to Kelley Square, then to Madison Street, then Southbridge Street and then Cambridge Street. Quinsigamond Avenue will also be affected. Expect temporary delays as the caravan passes through.

The city will post signs around both the funeral and cemetery procession routes warning drivers of possible delays.

Parking restrictions

With parking already tight in the Canal District, plan to avoid the area on Thursday. Worcester will ban parking along Temple Street from noon Wednesday to 4 p.m. Thursday, and from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday along Green Street. There also won't be parking available at Union Station.

Worcester is recommending visitors use parking garages in the immediate downtown area.

Attending the funeral

Although St. John's has a capacity of about 1,000 people, those seats will be taken up by Worcester police and city officials, dignitaries and Familia's family. The public can watch the processions from sidewalks and other portions of public property. There won't be any public access for the burial ceremony.

Boston 25 will air the funeral mass live beginning at around 10 a.m. Thursday. There will also be an audio broadcast of the mass outside the church.

Wednesday wake

Although it will be a smaller affair, there will be calling hours for Familia at St. John's Church on Wednesday from 4 to 8 p.m. Temple Street will be closed between Harding and Green streets from 1 p.m. until the wake concludes.