BANGOR – Law enforcement officers from around the state Monday morning lined the entrance to St. Mary’s Catholic Church three deep. More than 150 men and women, most clad in varying hues of brown and blue, their shield numbers covered by a narrow strip of black tape, stood at attention in the relentless summer sun.

In unison, they raised their white-gloved hands to their foreheads and saluted the flag-draped coffin bearing the body of Penobscot County Sheriff Edward Reynolds to its final resting place. Patrol cars from the sheriff’s office, the Bangor Police Department and the Maine State Police escorted the hearse on the short drive to Mount Pleasant Cemetery on Ohio Street.

Reynolds, 66, died last week after a year-and-a-half-long struggle with cancer. He was diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer in March 2001. He ran the county sheriff’s department for 18 years and remained in office until his death, but announced several months ago that he would not seek re-election in November.

The Rev. Frank Murray, pastor of St. Mary’s, and the Very Rev. Richard E. Harvey, a retired priest, concelebrated the Mass of Christian Burial. Municipal, county, state and federal officials as well as friends filled the sanctuary. Latecomers watched the service on closed circuit television in an adjacent function room.

During the Mass, Murray related his last conversation with Reynolds before the sheriff died at Eastern Maine Medical Center in the early morning hours Wednesday, Aug. 14. The priest said it was “the crowning conversation” he’d had with the sheriff during his illness.

“He told me a few hours before he died, ‘Father, I’m excited. I’m excited about dying and going to meet God in heaven,'” Murray told the packed church. “Possibly, he might not have said that a year ago, when he saw his life was more focused on his work here on Earth. But recently, his focus shifted to eternal life, which he saw on the horizon.”

The Rev. Robert Carlson, chaplain for the sheriff’s department, praised Reynolds as a bridge builder, increasing cooperation between departments and agencies during his tenure. He described the sheriff as “unflappable” even in crises.

Carlson joked after the Mass that Reynolds, an avid golfer, was excited because “the fact of the matter is that there is golf in heaven.” The retired pastor of Orrington Congregational Church confessed he’d had “quiet prayers wishing that [Reynolds] was a Congregationalist.”

“The number of people here today from wide and diverse backgrounds around the state is an indication of the magnitude of the great man whom we have beheld,” said Carlson. “Ed Reynolds truly was a man for all seasons.”

A Bangor native, Reynolds graduated from John Bapst High School and attended Husson College before joining the Bangor police force in 1960. He retired in 1982 as a lieutenant. When he was elected sheriff in 1984, Reynolds became the first Republican to hold that office in 14 years.

Chief Deputy Glenn Ross will oversee the department until a new sheriff is elected this fall. Ross, a Republican who lives in Exeter, will face Democrat Timothy Richardson of Hermon on the November ballot.

Reynolds, divorced, is survived by his three grown children and Sandy Corbin, his partner and best friend of 20 years. Donations in his memory may be sent to Camp Post Card, c/o Volunteers of America, attention Glenn Michaels, 14 Maine St., Suite 205, Brunswick 04011. Camp Post Card offers a week-long camp experience to at-risk 5th and 6th grade children from Maine.