POPULAR CONSTABLE

Dominion, Volume 30, Issue 46, 18 November 1936, Page 13

POPULAR CONSTABLE

Largely-attended Funeral Sixty white-gloved young constables, nine sergeants, and a number of other ofiicers were present yesterday at the funeral in Wellington yesterday of Constable Roderick Mclntosh Downie, aged 23, who died at Auckland on Saturday after a short illness. His home was in Wellington, but he had been stationed at Auckland for a year. He was the son of Mrs. M. Downie and the late Mr. Peter Downie, of 5 Tasman Street, Wellington. In two long lines of blue, the men marched slowly behind the carriage at the funeral. The parade, which was under the control of Senior-Sergeant D. J. O’Neill, was headed by Sergeant P. Munro. The pall-bearers were Constables R. T. Hughes, R. B. Wooding, I. R. Palmer, R. W. Cross, N. D. Bache, and E. J. Brownie, all of whom were squad mates with Constable Downie when he was at the training depot at ■Wellington. The service at the graveside was conducted by the Rev. W. Gilmour. The chief mourners were his mother, his three sisters, and his brother-in-law, Rev. Bertram Brierly, of Napier. The Hon. P. Fraser, Minister in Charge of the Police Department, attended, and officers of the police force present included the Commissioner, Mr. D. J. Cummings, Superintendent D. C. Fraser, Inspector J. Sweeney, and De-tective-Sergeant L. B. Revell. Formerly employed by Messrs. Kirkcaldie and Stains, Constable Downie had been in the Police force only a year, being transferred to Auckland exactly a year to a day before his death,, after he had completed his tui-' tion at the training depot at Wellington. He was keenly interested in sport, and was a member of the Auckland Police Rugby team, winners of the Kohn Cup this year, as well as in the Auckland police cricket representatives.