Covering a funeral
I think it’s accurate to say that each of the Monroe Evening News staff reporters and photographers who participated in the coverage of the funeral for Toledo Police Detective Keith Dressell considered it to be a privilege.
The media is sometimes accused of sensationalizing the coverage of funerals.
In the newspaper business, we generally point to television and accuse overzealous TV reporters for giving all media a bad rap.
At The Evening News, we work hard to find a balance between respecting the family’s privacy and the community’s need to participate in the grieving process. Through our newspaper and Web pages, we give folks who can’t attend the funeral a chance to also celebrate a life and mourn a death
When a community loses a life - especially someone who risked his life to serve as a police detective - it touches many hearts.
Most of us recognize that we owe our generally safe, secure lives, which are for the most part free from fear of harm, to the police officers and fire fighters who stand ready to risk their’s.
Detective Dressell’s life was dedicated to service; his death reminds us that others have to live in danger so we can live without fear.
His funeral was a very public event, attended by thousands and watched by thousands more on television. We had five journalists - two reporters and three photographers - working to cover the event.
Each went about their business with professionalism - emotionally touched by the occasion and understanding that it’s their job to help folks connect with the ceremonies, feel the pain and the joy and the loss in some small way.
Funerals are an important part of the grieving process - for the community as well as for family, friends and co-workers.
We hope our stories and photographs helped people understand who Detective Dressell was, how his life touched others, how much he was loved and respected, and how in death he was honored as a hero.