Current East Orange Police Department Officers Sgt. Larry Flanagan, second from left, and Sgt. S. Greenwood, center, joined retired EOPD cops, including Sgt. Robert Congleton, second from right, and Detective Joseph Juliano, right, in paying their respects to former police Chief Michael Cleary at his wake on Thursday, July 19, the same day Mayor Ted Green introduced former police Director Jose Cordero as the city’s new public safety consultant, marking the start of a new chapter in the department’s history, at the same time that Cleary’s death ended his part of that ongoing story.
SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ — On Thursday, July 19, a wake was held for former East Orange Police Chief Michael J. Cleary Sr., at the McCriskin-Gustafson Home for Funerals in South Plainfield.
According to his obituary, Cleary died on Saturday, July 14, at age 67. His wake was Wednesday, July 18, and Thursday, July 19, followed my a funeral Mass on Friday, July 20, at Immaculate Conception Roman Catholic Church in Somerville.
Mayor Ted Green traveled to South Plainfield to pay his respects to Cleary’s surviving family members.
“I was on for 30 years, came in in 1983,” said retired Sgt. Robert Congleton on Thursday, July 19. “I knew Michael Cleary. Great man, great friend, great leader. Very, very great, if I’m not using too many superlatives, chief. He was everybody’s friend, he looked out for everybody. He was a great teacher, a great instructor, I can’t give the man enough superlatives. Everybody who had contact with him remembers him very positively.”
Congleton said Cleary was “a man among men” and several former EOPD officers who came to pay their respects to their fallen friend and leader agreed.
Former EOPD Chief Charles Grimes said, “I was Chief Cleary’s predecessor as chief of police. He succeeded me as the chief of police for East Orange.” “I still live in East Orange. I’ve known Mike since he first came on the job, so I wanted to come out here to pay my respects and do that for Trish and the family. Mike was a typical Irish guy — gregarious, always had a story, might not have always been truthful, might have stretched it a little bit, but there was always an element of truth in there. He’s a good guy. Traveling 20 miles to come out here to pay my respects was the right thing to do.”
Sgt. Larry Flanagan is still on the job in East Orange and is a member of the department’s honor guard, which carries flags during official city ceremonies and on special occasions, such as Cleary’s wake and funeral.
“He’s a great man, always had good stories,” said Flanagan on Thursday, July 19. “He treated the rookies like veterans. He knew everyone’s name. The chief will be very sorely missed.”
Retired Detective Joseph Juliano agreed that Cleary was a great storyteller.
“The man could tell a story,” said Juliano on Thursday, July 19.
“He was quite a gentleman,” said retired Capt. Percy M. Fowlkes, who worked in the EOPD for 37 years and currently lives in South Plainfield. “He was a fair man. Cleary didn’t really try and hurt anyone. Now, you have the different departments and you have a lot of animosity built up and they go after each other. Cleary was pretty good. We got along. We had a pretty good team.”
Fowlkes said “policing in East Orange is more a community.”
“There wasn’t much commercial; it was community, a good community,” Fowlkes said. “I think it is possible to do community policing. I’ve been out 18 years, so I can’t speak too much to how things are done today. But if the officers there keep doing their jobs, then you’ll get a good job.”
Congleton said the best thing about Cleary was that “he treated everybody the same and he cared about the guys he supervised. He cared about the city (and) he was very respectful.” He also said he hopes those character traits and leadership skills will be carried into the new EOPD leadership.
“Chief Cleary was a man among men. He was an excellent man and a great friend,” Congleton added.
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