HARTFORD, Conn. — Family, friends and community members will mourn the passing of Wethersfield Volunteer Firefighter Robert "Sharkey" Sharkevich Sr. at his funeral Monday.
Sharkevich, 66, died in a utility vehicle rollover crash while battling the Hawthorne fire on Lamentation Mountain in Berlin on Oct. 22.
His funeral service will be held at the Cathedral of Saint Joseph at 140 Farmington Avenue in Hartford at 11 a.m. FOX61 will be covering the funeral procession on-air and online.
According to the Wethersfield Police Department, northbound and southbound traffic from the Hartford city line to Wells Road will be closed at 10 a.m. for the funeral procession, lasting for about one hour before it reopens.
Traffic surrounding the cathedral in the eastern portion of Farmington Avenue and Asylum Avenue will be impacted between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. due to the large anticipated attendance, according to Hartford police. Officials are asking those attending to park at the Aetna complex garage on 40 Sigourney Street in Hartford.
The following roads will be closed at 12:30 p.m. for the return of the funeral procession until 2 p.m.:
- Ridge Road (Hartford city line to Prospect Street)
- Prospect Street at Ridge Road
- Griswold Road at Prospect Street
- Griswold Road at Maple Street
- Maple Street at Gilbert Avenue
- Wells Road (from Ridge Road to Goff Road)
- Goff Road (from Wells Road to Prospect Street)
- Prospect Street (from Goff Road to Griswold Road)
Sharkevich's burial will take place at Rose Hill Memorial Park in Rocky Hill.
Wethersfield Public Schools will be closed on Monday for the funeral service, according to the superintendent.
The Hartford Fire Fighters Association said bus transportation will be made available for members attending Monday's mass with parking available at the Xfinity Theatre at 61 Savitt Way in Hartford. Members are asked to use the northwest gravel parking lot near the railroad tracks. Shuttling will begin at 9 a.m. from the parking lot to the cathedral, followed by the interment at Rose Hill Memorial Park before ending at the Connecticut Convention Center.
In addition to his membership with the Wethersfield Volunteer Fire Department, Sharkevich was a retired Hartford firefighter, a parent, grandparent and a physical services carpenter in the Wethersfield school district, the superintendent said.
The crash on Oct. 22 was reported at 5:35 p.m. at the south end of the Lamentation Mountain where four firefighters were assisting with battling the brush fire, believed to have originated in Berlin, Meriden police said. Three other firefighters had non-life-threatening injuries and were taken to local hospitals.
Based on a preliminary investigation, police said they learned that the UTV was driving along a "steep rocky incline" while responding to the brush fire when it rolled over onto Sharkevich.
Gov. Ned Lamont directed U.S. and state flags in Connecticut to return to full-staff Monday evening after they were brought to half-staff on Oct. 23.
A wake for Sharkevich was held on Sunday at the Farley-Sullivan Funeral Home on 34 Beaver Road in Wethersfield. His obituary can be found here.
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Sean Humphrey is a digital content producer at FOX61 News. He can be reached at shumphrey@fox61.com.
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