[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 62 (Tuesday, April 17, 2018)]
[House]
[Page H3347]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      HONORING OFFICER SEAN GANNON

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Massachusetts (Mr. Keating) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. KEATING. Mr. Speaker, so many people in this world are focused 
on: What's in it for me?
  Not Officer Sean Gannon. Sean was a giver. His life was defined by 
his focus on serving and helping others.
  Sean was taken from us last Thursday in an act of violence that 
shocked our sensibilities and broke all of our hearts.
  In his early years, he gave to his community in New Bedford, his 
classmates at All Saints School, and then his classmates at Bishop 
Stang High School in North Dartmouth. He gave to his college mates as 
he prepared for his lifetime goal of becoming a police officer at 
Westfield State and Mass Maritime Academy.
  He gave to the communities in preparation of this at Westfield and 
Nantucket working there as a police officer and began his real career 
at Stonehill College, working to support and help students there, 
keeping them safe, and working with one of his mentors and friends, 
former Police Chief Peter Carnes.
  He gave as a Big Brother to a young boy through the Big Brothers Big 
Sisters Program of Cape Cod and the Islands, and that young boy now 
wants to grow up and be a police officer just like Sean.

  He gave to the children he visited in the schools as a police officer 
accompanied most often by his partner and canine friend, Nero.
  He gave to his friends and his second family at the Yarmouth Police 
Department where he is loved and missed dearly.
  Sean gave the greatest love to his parents, Patrick and Denise; his 
brother and sister; his family; and particularly to his wife, Dara, who 
shared in the spirit of giving as she conducted her work in the Cape 
Cod Foundation with helping over 250 charities. Sean and Dara were a 
fixture at every charitable event on Cape Cod.
  Ultimately, he gave his life--the ultimate sacrifice--to protect us 
and protect others from a dangerous and violent individual whom the 
Yarmouth Police Chief Frank Frederickson said would have clearly taken 
another life had Sean not intervened.
  Sean is a hero. He is one of us. He is much more than that. He is 
someone we aspire to be, a giver, whose love for others will continue 
to inspire us.
  There was a vigil last Saturday in the town of Yarmouth, 
Massachusetts, where 1,000 people showed up to pay tribute to Sean. 
Tomorrow he will be laid to rest joined by several thousand who will 
gather together to pay tribute and share love with him.
  God bless Officer Sean Gannon. May he rest in peace. May his soul and 
spirit continue to live among us and inspire us.

                          ____________________