A memorial run for an Ontario Provincial Police officer who was shot and killed while in the line of duty last December will take place in Barrie next month.
The May 13 event will raise money for a scholarship in OPP Const. Greg Pierzchala's name.
Investigators have said Pierzchala, 28, was ambushed near Hagersville, Ont., on Dec. 27, 2022, while responding to a call for a vehicle in a ditch.
The young officer, who grew up in Barrie, had been with OPP for just more than a year and had been notified he had passed his 10-month probation period just hours before his death.
Randall McKenzie, 25, and Brandi Crystal Lyn Stewart-Sperry, 30, were arrested and charged with first-degree murder. The case remains before the courts.
The memorial run takes place on Saturday, May 13 and starts at Heritage Park at 1 p.m.
John Zurakowski, who is the youth minister for Holy Spirit Parish, says all proceeds from the event will go to Holy Spirit Parish Barrie to set up a scholarship fund in memory of Pierzchala at St. Joan of Arc Catholic High School, where the slain officer had been a student.
“We continue to meet to plan as a committee made up of Greg's family, St. Joan of Arc's chaplain and other staff, a variety of OPP personnel and myself representing Holy Spirit Parish,” Zurakowski told BarrieToday. “Greg was an active parishioner and was a graduate of St. Joan of Arc high school.”
Pierzchala's funeral took place in Barrie on Jan. 4 and saw thousands of mourners fill Sadlon Arena for the service, while thousands more lined the streets along the procession route or watched online.
For more information on how to give or be a part of the memorial run, click here.
