Thousands attend funeral service for Guelph Const. Jennifer Kovach
Posted March 21, 2013 2:52 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Thousands of people gathered to mourn the loss of Const. Jennifer Kovach on Thursday and to celebrate the life of the woman described as “quirky,” “gregarious” and “caring,” who fulfilled her childhood dream of serving as an officer on the Guelph police force.
“She packed more into her short life than most people do in a lifetime,” the officer’s mother, Guelph city councillor Gloria Kovach, said during the service. “She lived by what she believed in and never missed an opportunity.”
The grieving mother also took time to thank Guelph emergency responders and the Guelph Transit bus driver involved in the crash that claimed her daughter’s life on March 14. The driver attended to the critically-injured officer after the collision.
“I cannot thank you enough for doing all that you could to save my baby’s life,” she said.
An estimated 6,000 people, including police officers from across Ontario, dignitaries and members of the community, assembled at Guelph’s Sleeman Centre for a regimental service that included words from Kovach’s family, friends and colleagues.
The funeral service was preceded by a police parade that started at Guelph police headquarters and ended at Sleeman Centre.
Guelph police chief Bryan Larkin said Kovach lived by her motto: live, love and laugh. The late officer’s father, retired paramedic Bill Kovach, also spoke briefly at the service. A longtime friend also read a statement on his behalf.
“I find it extremely difficult to find the words to express all my feelings about Jen,” the grieving father said through his friend. “My head is so full with all the great memories I’m finding it hard to choose.”
He recounted his daughter’s love for outdoor activities, such as riding dirt bikes and ATVs and her excitement that they would be working alongside each other as a police officer and paramedic.
“We found ourselves on many shifts, side by side,” he said. “I was immensely proud to see her in action.”
A common theme ran through all of the emotional tributes: Kovach was destined to become a cop.
“Policing wasn’t a job, it was her calling,” Larkin said.
“Jennifer didn’t just go to work; she lived her dream,” her mother said.
When she graduated from police college, she had multiple offers elsewhere but chose to serve in her beloved hometown, taking a position with the Guelph force in 2009, two days before her 23rd birthday.
Kovach was killed last Thursday when she lost control of her cruiser while responding to a call around 12:30 a.m. and slammed into a Guelph Transit bus after crossing the centre lane on Imperial Road. She died in hospital.
There were no passengers on the bus.
Authorities are still working to pinpoint the cause of the crash. Kovach was alone in her cruiser at the time and was on her way to help a fellow officer with a traffic stop and drug bust, according to a report in the Guelph Mercury.
The officer’s mother remembered their travels together and said her daughter’s favourite trips were those in Canada and described her child as patriotic, noting that flying a Canadian flag was one of the first things she did after moving into her new home.
The officer’s caring nature is exemplified by the gifts she provided to others after her death, her mother said.
“Today two people can now see because of Jennifer’s gift,” Kovach’s mother said of her daughter’s organ donation.
The mother also said she spoke to her daughter before she went to work on what would be her final shift, and said she expressed excitement about becoming an aunt. Her brother’s wife gave birth to a girl — the first grandchild for the Kovach family — around the time of the accident.
“As Jennifer would say, do not go where the path may lead,” Gloria Kovach said, “go instead where there is no path and just leave a trail.”
As the funeral ended, mourners were played out with bagpipes.
Below is a feed of tweets from CityNews reporter Keeley Rogers, who’s covering the funeral, and from the hashtag #RIP72:
