For more than a week, Kurt Solomon’s name had been inseparable from the extraordinary circumstances surrounding his death.
On Wednesday, the focus shifted back to the man himself.
Hundreds of law enforcement officers, family members, friends and community members gathered at Our Lady of the Angels Church to remember the 57-year-old Worcester police officer, a lifelong city resident who spent 31 years with the department.
Solomon’s American flag-draped casket arrived at the Main Street church shortly before 11 a.m. in a procession led by more than 50 police motorcycles from communities across Massachusetts, according to the Boston Globe. Officers, municipal officials, family members and friends stood outside as bagpipes and drums played. The funeral drew hundreds of officers and friends, many of whom filed quietly into the church after days spent taking part in the sprawling search and investigation that followed Solomon’s death.
Inside, Solomon’s family offered a more personal picture of the man behind the badge.
His son Niklas and one of Solomon’s brothers delivered eulogies, according to accounts of the service and a post from state Rep. Steve Xiarhos, who attended the funeral. Xiarhos said the remarks gave those in attendance “a very personal glimpse into the man behind the badge.”
The Telegram & Gazette reported that Niklas Solomon remembered his father as someone whose police work did not define him at home.
“He was never a cop around his family,” Niklas Solomon said during his eulogy. “He was a genuine man who never set a bad example.”
Xiarhos said more than 100 motorcycle officers from Massachusetts and beyond participated in Wednesday’s tribute, while the Globe reported more than 50 motorcycles in the procession. Rather than try to reconcile the varying estimates, what was unmistakable from accounts of the day was the scale of the law enforcement presence.
The Worcester Police Pipes & Drums, which performed during the funeral, said in a public post that it was an “honor and privilege” to take part in Solomon’s service.
The turnout extended beyond those visible outside the church. The Westfield Regional Dispatch Center said members of the statewide Telecommunicator Emergency Response Taskforce staffed the Worcester dispatch center Wednesday so Worcester dispatchers could attend Solomon’s funeral processions.
Solomon had deep roots in the neighborhood where he was laid to rest. In fact, Our Lady of the Angels sits about a block from Gates Lane School, which Solomon attended as a child, and only minutes from Wildwood Avenue, where he grew up and lived for much of his life.
He later attended South High School and studied criminal justice at Quinsigamond Community College. Before joining the Worcester Police Department, Solomon served in the U.S. Army in Germany, according to his obituary and previous reporting by the Worcester Guardian. The QCC Alumni Association remembered him this week as an alumnus who devoted decades to public service.
The association said Solomon would also be remembered for “his love for the outdoors and the simple joys in life.”
Those included golfing, fishing, running, biking and gardening. According to his obituary, Solomon regularly donated surplus vegetables from his garden to the Worcester County Food Bank.
State Sen. Michael Moore, who attended Wednesday’s funeral, described Solomon in a public post as “a loving father, US Army Veteran, vegetable gardener, and a protector of his community.”
Mayor Joseph Petty, in a statement following Solomon’s death, recalled smaller encounters with the veteran officer.
“I will personally miss Officer Solomon’s caring personality and the warm smile with which he always greeted me at City Council meetings,” Petty wrote. “Those small interactions spoke to the kind of person he was and will be greatly missed.”
The New England Police Benevolent Association, which represents Worcester officers through Local 911, described Solomon after his death as “an incredibly dependable officer, colleague and friend.”
“Thirty-one years of service represents an extraordinary commitment to a community and to the profession of law enforcement,” the association said. “Officer Kurt Solomon answered that call for more than three decades, and his service, friendship and dedication will not be forgotten.”
Solomon leaves two adult sons, Niklas T. Solomon and Brandon W. Solomon. He is also survived by his mother, Shirley Solomon, and brothers Eric J. Salomonsson and Karl F. Solomon.
Michael McSellers, a Marine Corps veteran, chaplain and state trooper in Virginia, described Solomon as a “dear brother,” wrote Wednesday that he was still struggling to find words for the loss.
“Today we honor the life and 31 years of service of our dear brother Kurt Solomon,” McSellers wrote. “I wish I could say more but still don’t have words to convey it.”
The funeral capped a devastating eight days for Solomon’s family, friends and fellow officers.
Solomon was found dead Aug. 18 at his Wildwood Avenue home. His wife, Karen Solomon, disappeared shortly before police arrived, prompting a nearly weeklong search involving local, state and federal agencies.
Her body was discovered Monday in woods off May Street near Fairlawn Rehabilitation Hospital. Worcester Police Chief Paul Saucier said investigators believe the deaths were a murder-suicide and emphasized that police had no prior history of domestic abuse involving the Solomon family.
Police have said Kurt Solomon suffered fatal injuries involving a sharp object. A handgun was found near Karen Solomon’s body. The investigation remains ongoing.
Wednesday’s funeral Mass lasted about 90 minutes, according to the Telegram & Gazette. Afterward, Solomon’s procession departed Our Lady of the Angels for Worcester County Memorial Park in Paxton, where burial was scheduled.
For Worcester police, the funeral came at the end of a week in which many officers had been investigating the death of one of their own while searching for his wife.
Saucier acknowledged after Karen Solomon’s body was found Monday that the emotional impact on the department would not simply end with the search.
“It’s been very difficult on the department, and it will continue to be,” Saucier said Monday. “Now that we have somewhat closure, this is when it’s going to really affect the men and women of the police department.”
On Wednesday, those men and women stood together with Solomon’s family and the broader law enforcement community to say goodbye.
