Artist fixes damaged mural of fallen Worcester Police Officer Manny Familia
WORCESTER - When Worcester artist Ferdinand Nazario found out about graffiti scribbled across his Murray Ave mural honoring fallen Officer Manny Familia, he wasted no time gathering his supplies.
"I looked at it and I was like, 'Yeah, I can probably be there later on today,'" he recalled.
He worked quickly and quietly, just as he had the first time, to make it right.
"I had to do something. And I did it for his family," Nazario said of his repairs last week.
Manny Familia died the way he lived - caring for another. It was June of 2021, when the Worcester officer tried save a boy from drowning.
The Familia family first saw this art honoring the man they love - on the way back from his funeral. The limo driver stopped to show them Nazario's progress. It's a gesture from a stranger, they'll never forget.
"It's a gift Ferdinand gave our family. Not only to us but to the city of Worcester," said Manny's brother, Elvin Familia.
"To me I'm just grateful they're grateful. He has to be remembered and one of my ways of doing it was through my art," Nazario said.
And it's that remembering, that's so priceless to the people who love the hero. It's why they created the Manny 267 Foundation, providing water safety training & rescue tubes for officers, and swimming lessons for children.
"At the beginning when this happened, I couldn't make sense of why we lost Manny. Little by little God has shown us the purpose; the reason. It was not in vain. We are all together making sure Manny's name lives on forever and is attached to something good and service to the community," Elvin Familia said.