Retired NYPD Officer Anthony J. Fuoco had no family, so 200 police and other mourners came to his funeral

He'd spent his life in service to others — first as a specialist in the U.S. Army and then as an NYPD patrolman.

In January, retired Officer Anthony J. Fuoco died alone.

After his remains went unclaimed for two months and no family could be found, nearly 200 of his fellow officers, veterans and mourners who never met him came to say goodbye on Thursday and deliver his final honors at Calverton National Cemetery.

Fuoco, 91, was a Korean War veteran and a patrolman for the NYPD until his retirement in 1970, according to the New York City Police Benevolent Association. 

Fuoco, who was assigned to the NYPD’s Midtown North Precinct, was found dead on Jan. 31 in his home in Queens. His body remained in the morgue ever since.

Until the PBA arranged his funeral and burial at Calverton this week, his unclaimed remains were destined to be buried in a potter’s field.

"We couldn’t allow that to happen. He had no family and there was no one to be with him and no way to have a funeral for him," PBA treasurer Joseph Strong said Thursday at the cemetery. "Someone who was a veteran and a retired patrolman, who spent his entire life and service to this city and this country, deserves that type of respect and honor and send-off."

Fuoco’s coffin, draped in an American flag, was escorted through the cemetery by an honor guard while veterans and officers from the New York Police Department and Suffolk County saluted. A trumpeter played taps and "America the Beautiful." An American flag and a green-and-white NYPD flag were folded and presented to officers from the department.  

Funeral director Leanne Jones read a poem to remember Fuoco, titled, "Life is but a stopping place."

"Even though we are all strangers, we are all connected in one way or another," Jones said. "For our dear brother, most of us do not know of him, we heard the call and made it our duty to be here today, because nobody gets left behind, no brother should have to walk and go this way alone."

Strong said the funeral service wasn’t planned by the PBA until Monday, noting the NYPD moto — "Fidelis ad Mortem," or faithful unto death, and the vow of the police department and the Army to "never forget."

"Patrolman Fuoco may have died alone, without friends, without family at his bedside, and that is an absolute tragedy for any human being. But he did not die alone. He had his family with him, his family of blue, his family of green," Strong said. "You are going to be laid in a place of great honor and great respect, in these hallowed grounds, among heroes, among legends, exactly where you belong."

The funeral also was hosted by the American Legion NYC Police Post and VFW chapters in Suffolk County, including from Rocky Point, Westhampton Beach and Commack.

"We often see folks that don't make it back, but we're able to honor them, whether it is telling their stories or having a service for them," said retired U.S. Air Force Sgt. Stephanie Rubi, with VFW Post 6249 in Rocky Point. "With Anthony's case, he didn't have anyone to tell his story, so it was important that we create one for him in his memory."