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A family, a city say goodbye

At the funeral of Detective Juan Serrano, mourners focus on how he lived, not how he died.

By KEVIN GRAHAM
Published March 3, 2006

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TAMPA - Tampa police Detective Juan Serrano's mother doesn't speak English, so she wrote down in Spanish what she wanted to say during his funeral Mass on Thursday morning and had her eldest son translate.

"I asked God for Juan," Olga Serrano wrote. "I taught (him) to always look ahead and never give up when the task was too hard."

She remembered a conversation two weeks ago when he telephoned her.

"Mommy, I like what I do, and I've made it," he told her.

Serrano, 49, Mayor Pam Iorio's bodyguard and driver, died Saturday in what the Tampa Police Department declared an accident in the line of duty. After spending the day with Iorio at the Bank of America Gasparilla Distance Classic, he was heading home when a hit-and-run driver slammed into his car. He died a few hours later at Tampa General Hospital.

Hillsborough County sheriff's deputies have charged Jose Luis Espinosa, 35, with DUI manslaughter and vehicular homicide. A native of Mexico living in Gibsonton, Espinosa also was charged with leaving the scene of a deadly crash and driving without a valid license in a crash involving serious injury.

Thursday's memorial service at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in downtown Tampa displayed the solemn pageantry that marks a farewell by law enforcement to one of its own. Officers in black uniforms filled the pews and lined the streets, joined by some of Tampa's most prominent political, civic and law enforcement leaders.

When she arrived at the church, Iorio walked up to Serrano's flag-draped coffin. She stood there for a moment, placing both hands on the casket, and bowed her head. She went back to her seat and cried, as she has every time she has spoken publicly about Serrano this week.

Later, she addressed the 600 or so who crowded into the church and those listening to loudspeakers set up in the street outside: "It's so easy during a time like this to ask why a person who was so good, who had so much to give to family and the community, was taken from us."

She urged the mourners, instead, to turn their attention to Serrano's life. "Why was a person who was so good, who focused so much on community and family, given to us in the first place?" she asked.

"We come together on this sad day to surround you, his family, with love," said Father Andrew Reitz, who delivered the homily. "And to let you know we are touched by what happened to you."

Serrano was married with three children and three stepchildren. His family entered the church from a side door, away from the cameras out front.

Older brother Hector Serrano thanked the community for showing so much support. "Mom doesn't speak any English, but she knows you're saying wonderful things about her son," he said.

Tampa police Chief Stephen Hogue said he recently looked through Serrano's personnel file. During the 17 years he worked for the Police Department, Hogue said, Serrano's supervisors had nothing but good things to say about him.

"He is the engine that drives gang-related investigations," wrote one supervisor. "Continually demonstrates the ability to solve complex problems," wrote another.

"To meet Juan is to be impressed by him," Hogue said. "He was quiet and reserved, but his work spoke loudly."

Hogue said his wife, Charlotte, always counted on Serrano to make her feel comfortable at events where she didn't know anyone. He'd make his way toward her and just talk. "He was a caregiver," Hogue said.

Sgt. Christopher Ugles, who graduated with Serrano in 1989 from the police academy, said they shared a passion for motorcycles. When Ugles started a club for fellow officers seven years ago, Serrano was one of its first members.

"We didn't know it at the time, but we had bought the exact same motorcycle," Ugles said.

Serrano didn't ride much with the group. And he always had the same excuse: He had to spend time with his family.

"I always admired him for how much he loves his family," Ugles said.

After the 90-minute service, mourners gathered along N Florida Avenue as pallbearers carried Serrano's coffin to the hearse. His family scheduled a private ceremony at Boza and Roel Funeral Home, with his remains to be cremated and returned to his native Puerto Rico. But there was one last public ritual to be performed - a traditional police farewell.

A rare midday stillness settled over downtown Tampa, and tears began to flow. An officer with a bugle stood ready to play taps from the steps of the old U.S. Courthouse across the street.

Someone handed Chief Hogue the American flag taken from atop the coffin, folded neatly and ready for presentation to Serrano's wife, Mylin.

Then a police radio crackled with the voice of a dispatcher:

"Radio to Unit 721 ... Detective Serrano, please respond," the dispatcher called, addressing the unit number of the Criminal Intelligence Bureau.

"All units, be advised, Juan Serrano, badge 857, detective with the Criminal Intelligence Bureau, having served this community for 17 years with the Tampa Police Department, has ended his watch on Feb. 25, 2006.

"May God rest his soul."

Kevin Graham can be reached at 813 226-3433 or kgraham@sptimes.com

To express a thought, feeling or share a story about Detective Juan Serrano, send handwritten condolences to Sgt. Julia Dickie at Tampa Police Department, District One, 3818 Tampa Bay Blvd., Tampa, FL 33614. E-mail can be sent to julia.dickie@tampagov.net and will be forwarded to his family.

[Last modified March 3, 2006, 02:15:34]