A funeral was held Saturday at Queen of Peace Church in North Arlington for a New Jersey state trooper who lost his battle with cancer.
Lt. Bill Fearon died Wednesday at age 49 after a heroic battle with brain cancer. He had served with the New Jersey State Police for 22 years.
Hundreds of Fearon's colleagues attended his funeral to honor the man who was always quick to lend a helping hand.
"He was a family man always talked about his family. He had so much passion for this job and he will be sorely missed," Major Michael Devlin said.
Fearon, nicknamed "No Fear" by his friends and colleagues, was working out of the Bloomfield barracks on the day of the Sept. 11 attacks and headed out to Manhattan soon after to help in the rescue effort.
He worked on the bucket brigade at Ground Zero for days as the frantic search for survivors stretched into weeks. It is that act of heroism that likely led to his cancer diagnosis.
An MRI in 2015 revealed Glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer. Only 30 percent of people have a chance of surviving two years with this type of cancer.
Lt. Fearon is survived by his wife and three children.
Gov. Chris Christie has issued an executive order to have flags lowered to half-staff Saturday in his honor.