Funeral for Yonkers police lieutenant, 38

Mourners gathered Monday for the funeral of Roy McLaughlin, a Yonkers police lieutenant who helped rescue efforts at Ground Zero after 9/11 and died on the eve of the 14th anniversary of the attacks after a battle with brain cancer.

McLaughlin, 38, who served with the department for 17 years, left behind his wife, Christine, and four children. He came from a family of Yonkers law enforcement. In addition to his sister, Sgt. Meredith McLaughlin, his brother Andrew is a captain and his brother Mitchell is a lieutenant, the department said. His father, Roy, is a retired captain.

His death left much of the city grieving.

"Roy was raised in Yonkers and continued to live here with his family and was an active member of the Yonkers community," the department said in a statement. "He loved being a police officer and he helped many people throughout some of the most trying events of their lives."

Police lined the streets for the funeral Mass at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church on Yonkers Avenue.

McLaughlin was diagnosed with Stage 3 cancer five years ago. Following emergency brain surgery where doctors removed a larger cancerous tumor, he underwent radiation and chemotherapy. In 2010, Yonkers police officers held a fundraiser for him attended by an estimated 1,000 people and TV producer David Simon, who gave a speech.

Obituary notice: Roy McLaughlin

After graduating from St. John the Baptist and Fordham Prep, McLaughlin attended SUNY Albany before joining the Yonkers police department.

Memorial donations can be made to the National Brain Tumor Society at braintumor.org. After the funeral, interment was to follow at Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Hawthorne.