Fallen Massachusetts State Trooper Laid to Rest

HUDSON, Massachusetts -- Mourners, including law enforcement from across the nation, ushered the body of Massachusetts State Trooper Thomas L. Clardy to its final resting place — remembering him as a loving father and honest public servant.

“We gather today because we have been cheated,” said Father William Hamilton, “cheated of the giftedness, the talent, love and respect we have all shared in knowing Tom Clardy. We, each of us, have been diminished as for many of us that thin blue line has been become a little thinner.”

Clardy, 44, was conducting a routine traffic stop on the Mass Pike last week when a Nissan Maxima swerved across three lanes and crashed into the back of the trooper’s Ford Explorer. The driver, 30-year-old David Njuguna of Webster, has been charged with negligent operation of a motor vehicle and failure to stay within marked lanes. He will be arraigned in Dudley District Court at a later date.

Bagpipes droned at the opening and closing of Clardy’s funeral today at St. Michael Parish in Hudson, and hundreds of police officers stood outside the church — marking the trooper’s final duty.

Retired Sgt. Albert Toney, Clardy’s supervisor for five years at the state police barracks in Sturbridge, said Clardy was an honest, caring, and funny member of the police force.

“The glue that kept us together was Trooper Clardy. When Tom had a spare moment, he was committed to mayhem and hijinks,” said Toney, recounting a long list of practical jokes.

“Tom looked at everybody with good eyes and a good heart,” Toney said in his eulogy. “Tom loved life. He loved the spirit of life, and he lived life to its fullest. His life was cut short but at the time of his passing he was in full bloom.”

Trooper Jamie Magairian, a colleague of Clardy’s, said, “I’ll never come to grip or understand why this tragedy took place, why a man with so much promise and potential was cut short without just cause.”

Clardy, a Utah native who was born in California, served in the Army for two years then transferred to the Marine Corps, where he served 11 years until 2003.

He graduated from the Massachusetts State Police academy in 2005, then was stationed at barracks in Charlton, Sturbridge and Brookfield.

He was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Clardy is survived by his wife, Reisa and six children; his father and mother; two sisters and two brothers.

Tribune News Service