John Brennan
The Record
BERGEN COUNTY, N.J. — More than 100 police, fire, and emergency service personnel — including some from New York City, Baltimore, and Boston — turned out at a Paramus funeral Wednesday for an East Windsor man who died Monday of injuries received a day earlier during a swift-water rescue assignment in Princeton.
Dozens of men and women saluted as a casket carrying the body of Michael Kenwood, 39, was moved toward a hearse outside the Robert Shoem’s Menorah Chapel on Route 4. The somber scene followed a 45-minute private ceremony.
“Michael’s loss is tragic and difficult to comprehend, but it is of some comfort to know that he died doing what he loved,” Princeton First Aid and Rescue Squad President Peter Simon said in a statement. “Michael was a hero not for how he lost his life, but how he lived it.”
Kenwood was dispatched to the Stony Brook in Princeton Township at 4:35 a.m. Sunday to check for possible occupants of a submerged vehicle. He and a colleague became detached from the rope holding them together in the strong current, and Kenwood was swept away as he attempted to get back to land. The other man was unharmed, Princeton police said, and the car turned out to be unoccupied.
In addition to his work with the rescue squad, Kenwood since 2002 also owned Kenwood Technical Consulting, which had small- and medium-sized businesses as clients, according to his LinkedIn page. He had worked as a first-aid responder in Princeton since 2007.
According to Simon, Kenwood was a mentor and trainer for many new squad members, while also serving as the squad’s information technology administrator.
Simon added that Kenwood received the squad’s Extra Mile Award in his first year on the job.
The Ramsey Ambulance Corps and Jersey City Emergency Medical Services were among dozens of agencies that sent representatives to the funeral. Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno also attended the service, as did Princeton Mayor Chad Goerner.