U.S. Senator Charles Schumer and Congresswoman Louise Slaughter on Saturday led a ceremony to officially dedicate the East Rochester Post Office in honor of fallen Rochester City Police Officer, Daryl Pierson.
They were joined Pierson’s family, local law enforcement and U.S. Postal Service officials.
Pierson was shot and killed in the line of duty in September 2014. The officials also unveiled the exterior dedication plaque.
Pierson’s father-in-law, Mitch Evans, told Time Warner Cable News that, “I just hope and pray that as people come to this and as they glance over at that plaque, that a sense of service, dignity and pride of being an East Rochestarian, of being an American will set into the heart.”
"From the smallest child who sees it, to the older adult who looks at it and remembers that freedom is not free. You don't really know what you have until its gone," Evans said at the ceremony.
The historic post office was built in 1936 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Pierson was born in Sodus and grew up in East Rochester.
Following years of service in the U.S. Army, where he did tours in Korea, Pierson attended Monroe Community College and joined the Rochester Police Department in 2006. He was still a member of the National Guard.
Pierson was the first Rochester officer killed in the line of duty since 1959.
