Up to 5,000 Expected at Today’s Funeral for Officer Henry

As many as 5,000 people, including police officers from throughout the state, will attend a funeral Mass today for Newport Beach Police Officer Robert J. Henry, who was fatally shot in the head during a struggle with a man intent on committing suicide.

The two-hour service, celebrating the life of Henry, a five-year police veteran and father of three, will be held at The Pond of Anaheim.

“The family specifically wants a Catholic Mass and there is not a Catholic church in the county that will accommodate this size a crowd,” said Lt. Paul Henisey, a spokesman for the Newport Beach Police Department.

Special permission was granted by Bishop Norman McFarland to hold a Mass outside a Catholic church.

The Pond and parking are being provided free and other service costs will be paid by Newport Beach, Henisey said.

Henisey said up to 3,000 police officers, including most local police chiefs and representatives of police agencies from throughout the state, will attend the service.

The public may also attend the Mass, which will begin at 10 a.m. Those attending should arrive at least half an hour early and should use the Katella Avenue entrance to the Pond.

“Because of the circumstance and manner in which (Henry) died, we anticipate a fairly large turnout of the public,” said Henisey.

Henry, 30, died last Thursday at Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian. He had been in a coma for a month, since the shooting near Newport Harbor Lutheran Church.

Henry was found lying beneath the body of Carlos Caicedo, 24, of Garden Grove, who authorities say shot and killed himself after shooting Henry.

Police said Caicedo wrote a suicide note before the shooting.

Henry’s family has asked that everyone wear white or bright-colored clothing, rather than the traditional black used during funerals.

The Mass will be celebrated by Father Stephen Duffin, a childhood friend of Henry’s wife, Patty, who grew up in Fullerton.

Henry, a Mater Dei High School graduate, also was an Orange County native. The couple lived with their children in Lake Forest.

Eulogies will be delivered by Newport Beach Police Chief Robert J. McDonell; Officer Mark Hamilton, a close friend of Henry’s; Bill Henry, his eldest brother, and Sheila McHenry, a family friend.

After the funeral service, Henry will be buried in Orange at a ceremony attended only by family, friends and employees of Newport Beach. Police said there will be a 21-gun salute, a flyover by police helicopters and a bugler.

The public is invited to a reception from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Hyatt Newporter in Newport Beach to meet with the Henry family and members of the Newport Beach Police Department.

To enable Newport Beach police to attend the funeral, the city will be patrolled by officers from neighboring cities, and the city jail will be staffed by an Anaheim custody officer.