By Sarah Whites-Koditschek
al.com
The family of a Huntsville police officer shot and killed in the line of duty is now mortgage free following a donation from the Tunnel to Towers foundation.
Officer Fred Clardy Jr., 48, was killed in December of 2019 while working on a drug trafficking operation. Clardy, an army veteran and police officer of 14 years was survived by his wife, Ashlee, and five children.
“Tunnel to Towers is doing great work not only for our family, but for other families that have also suffered the loss of a loved one. Not having to be burdened by a mortgage is a huge relief,” Ashlee Clardy said in a statement.
The Tunnel to Towers Foundation is a national group that pays off the homes of officers who are killed on the job and leave children behind. The foundation plans to pay off 36 homes this holiday season.
Clardy is in the second generation of police officers to lose their lives in the line of duty in his family. His father, Officer Billy Fred Clardy II, died on the job in May of 1978.
“For such tragedy to strike the same family twice - that pain is beyond words,” said Tunnel to Towers Chairman and CEO Frank Siller.
“I hope the knowledge that they will never have to worry about their family home or a single mortgage payment ever again will provide some relief to Ashlee and her children.”
https://www.facebook.com/HuntsvillePoliceDepartment/posts/4683261861744589
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