VIN'S PEOPLE: Bradenton police officers 'there when it counts' for widow and daughters

Vin Mannix
·2 min read
1
Vin Mannix
Vin Mannix

A salute to the Bradenton Police Department for the heartwarming gesture rendered by four of its officers to the young daughters of the late Sergeant Lee Cosens and his widow, Amy.

Cosens succumbed to cancer last April after a two-year battle against kidney cancer.

So when the new school year rolled around, Lieutenant Christopher Deshaies, Detectives Todd Freed and Jay Gow and Sergeant Aaron Pilant stepped up and personally escorted sisters Savannah Lee, 8,and Margaret Lee Cosens, 6, to their first day of class.

The quartet represents all those helping the family keep Lee’s memory alive.

“Those guys rose to the occasion,” Amy said. “They proved to my girls they will be there when it counts, that they will show up because Lee no longer can.”

· Speaking of BPD, Officer Jacobe Scott, a recent Lifesaving Award recipient, threw out the first pitch for last Tuesday night’s Marauders game.

Earlier this year, Scott responded to a call involving a suspected overdose. Realizing it wasn't an overdose but another medical emergency, he performed CPR until EMS got there.

· Say it ain’t so! The always spry Wayne Beck is one year shy of the Big 8-0!

· And that’s 24 years of wedded bliss for Heather and Sean Felton.

· Beth Shepard is the new Nurse Director for Manatee Memorial Hospital’s Medical Surgical Orthopedics and Neurology departments.

· Kathy Cucci is 39. Again.

· So is Cindy Lou Grimes.

· And Linda Bartley McKinney.

· Dawn Zook, too.

· Circuit Judge Gilbert Smith Jr. hosts a book signing for his new work, “Champions of Children,” Tuesday, 5:30 p.m. at the Manatee Performing Arts Center, 502 Third Ave. W., Bradenton.

· Oh, no! Mike Horne is one year shy of the Big 7-0!

· And Anna Maria Oyster Bar’s Abby Elliott is the Oysters Rock Star of the Month for July.

· Don Falls is 63 years young.

· So is Mike “Spanky” LaValliere.

· And Maryann Lawler got a cool pick-me-up recently, not to mention a much needed laugh, after a particularly trying week at the office.

The longtime Bradenton Realtor grabbed a bottle of bubbly at her neighborhood Publix and when she got to the checkout line the cashier carded her.

Perturbed? Nah.

“I told the girl, ‘Thank you!’” Maryann said. “And she would understand my shock when she realized how old I am!”

Vin’s People runs Sundays. Email Vin Mannix at vinspeople@gmail.com. Or call 941-962-5944. Twitter: @vinmannix.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: VIN MANNIX: A show of compassion, support by Bradenton police officers