BEVERLY, MASS. (WHDH) - The Beverly community is mourning the loss of an Endicott College police sergeant who was killed in a wrong-way crash in Newbury this week.
Endicott College Police Sgt. Jeremy Cole, 49, of Exeter, N.H., spent 15 years as a campus police officer. He is remembered by friends and community members as a kind man.
Michael Magner, the owner of Pride’s Deli and Pizzeria, said Cole’s death has left a hole in the community. He’s known Cole since Magner himself was a student at Endicott College.
“Thought he was an amazing guy, treated everybody with the utmost respect and caring. Huge part, just a titan in the community,” Magner said.
Magner said he will miss Cole’s humor, among other traits.
“Smile, laugh, a joke, busting one of the other guys’ chops — just good old fashioned friendship,” he said.
Magner wasn’t alone.
“Every single person tells the same story — ‘I thought we had a unique relationship and friendship and I found out the same way he made me feel, he did to thousands of other people,'” Magner said.
Cole was killed late Wednesday night when a driver traveling the wrong way on I-95 struck his Chevrolet Trailblazer near mile marker 81.5, according to the Massachusetts State Police. Cole is survived by his wife and four children.
A memorial service for Cole will be held Monday at the Endicott College Center for Belonging and Inclusion.
“Thanksgiving’s an interesting time to reflect and this certainly gave us a lot of time to reflect, but he’s a larger-than-life character and there won’t be anyone to replace him, I know that,” Magner said.
Police said charges are pending for the other driver in both Massachusetts and New Hampshire.
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