Boston police officer found dead had adopted deceased sister’s children, fundraiser set

The tragedy of a Boston police officer being found dead has been compounded after it came to light that he had adopted his sister’s children after she and her husband passed away.

Massachusetts State Police homicide detectives attached to Norfolk District Attorney Michael W. Morrissey’s office Tuesday arrested Karen A. Read, 41, of Mansfield, on a manslaughter warrant in the January 29th death of 46-year-old John O’Keefe, a Boston Police officer from Canton who was found unresponsive outside a Canton residence.

O’Keefe was a Boston Police Officer for 16 years.

According to family and friends, John was a devoted son, brother, uncle, godfather, cousin, friend and was loved deeply by his family and was primarily devoted to and the guardian of his niece and nephew, Kayley and Patrick Furbush. He took custody of the children when his sister Kristen Furbush passed away from a brain tumor in 2013 and her husband Stephen Furbush died of a heart attack in 2014.

“He will be sorely missed by all who were blessed to have known him.”

In a previously issued statement, O’Keefe’s family reflected on his sudden passing.

“People talk about someone who would give you the shirt off their back, but that was truly who John was, and it is heartbreaking for us to suddenly be talking about him in the past tense.”

According to a GoFundMe fundraiser, the funds raised, which are over $200,000 as of this writing, will go directly to Kayley and Patrick for their futures.

O’Keefe’s services have also been announced as his visitation is Sunday from 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at the St. Francis of Assisi Church on Washington Street in Braintree with a funeral Mass to take place there on Monday at 11:30 a.m.