Retired Middletown Police Captain's Wake Thursday

A funeral wake for Detective Sergeant, Frank J. Lema, Sr., Naval Station Newport is scheduled for Thursday evening from 4:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m.  The wake will be held at the Memorial Funeral Home at 375 Broadway. Broadway will be closed from County Street south to Fowler Avenue due to the large number of civilian and law enforcement officers who will attend.
 
Lema, 70, of Middletown, passed away on Sept. 26, 2013 from injuries sustained while serving in the line of duty as a police officer at Naval Station Newport.

“He was a good guy” said Middletown Lt. Patrick Sweeney.  “He was a steady guy who looked out for the younger guys,” he said.

A longtime resident of Newport, Lama was a 1962 graduate of Rogers High School, where he participated in the JROTC Program and enjoyed the simplicity of growing up in Newport at the time.  

He enrolled in the US Air Force from 1962-1966 in the duty stations of Pease Air Force Base, NH and Guam, providing security on the flight lines.  Lema began his service to the Middletown Police Department in 1966 and dedicated his career to serving as a K-9 Officer.

After serving more than 26 years on the Department, he retired as Captain in 1992. In 1993, Lema brought his many years of law enforcement experience to the Department of Defense Police Department at the Newport Naval Station.
 

Funeral Service

The funeral service is scheduled for 10:00 a.m. at St. Mary Catholic Church, 14 William Street, Newport. The location was modified from the original obituary to accommodate the number of attendees expected. 

The route from the funeral home to the church is as follows:  Broadway to Admiral Kalbfus to Gate 1 NAVSTA Newport The procession will travel through the base and then exit Gate 17 onto Access Highway to West Main Road to Valley Rd to Memorial Blvd, to Bellevue Ave to William Street to Spring Street. Spring Street will be closed from the intersection its intersection with Bowery St to Memorial Boulevard.

The burial site is Newport Memorial Park in Middletown. The route to the cemetery is Memorial Blvd to Purgatory Road to Sachuest Point Rd to Hanging Rock Road to Indian Avenue to Vaucluse to Newport Memorial Park.

Officers from the Newport, Portsmouth, and State Police will be assigned to major intersections to allow the funeral procession to pass. There will be traffic delays so motorists are asked to avoid these areas on Friday morning.