MAURICE RIVER — Several hundred people gathered to remember fallen New Jersey State Police officer Frankie Williams at a vigil Thursday night in South Jersey.

Williams' fellow officers and residents stood side-by-side in the cold in front of the Leesburg Volunteer Fire Station remembering the 31-year-old officer who was killed in the line of duty on Route 55 on Monday when a car driven by Lloyd Rudley veered across the median and hit Williams' cruiser head on, according to State Police.

(New Jersey State Police)
(New Jersey State Police)
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Williams' mother Victoria and his wife Kimberly were both at the vigil, according to WPVI-TV, which reported Victoria Williams recalled how as a child Frankie Williams told her that she would have lots of brothers one day but she didn't expect they would be New Jersey State Police officers.

"I love the way you care, appreciate my son, because I appreciate what you have done for me. Every time I fall down, you pick me back up. Thank you," Victoria Williams told the crowd, according to the report.

"He was a guy that cared about what he did, he wanted to be a trooper and he went out a hero," Leesburg Volunteer Fire Department Chief Walt Hughes said, according to NJ.com, which reported Williams had worked with the Leesburg fire company the night before the fatal crash during a crash on Route 47.

WIlliams' funeral will be Monday at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, according to the Adams-Perfect Funeral Home. A viewing will take place for friends and family from 8 a.m. - 10 a.m. and law enforcement from 10 a.m. - noon followed by a service.

Donations may be made in Frankie Williams memory to Fusion Church, 701 New Hampshire Ave, Somers Point, NJ 08244 or to the Survivors of the Triangle, 800 Denow Rd, Suite C #385, Pennington, NJ 08534.

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