NORTON SHORES, Mich. — Police have announced the route a funeral procession will take to lay the body of Norton Shores Officer Jonathan Ginka to rest after he died on the job last week.
Ginka, a 10-year veteran with the Norton Shores Police Department, died Wednesday when his police cruiser drove off the road near Henry and Ross Road and hit a tree.
Visitation is Monday between 2-4 p.m. and 6-8 p.m. at the Sytsema Funeral Home in Norton Shores. A funeral mass is scheduled at 11 a.m. Tuesday at the Prince of Peace Catholic Church in North Muskegon. A procession with a police escort to the Laketown Township Cemetery will follow.
The five mile-long route will travel from the church east on Dykstra, south on Witham, west on Ruddiman, north on Bear Lake and east on Fenner to the cemetery.
Those who wish to honor Officer Ginka and support his family should line up along this route prior to 12:45 p.m.
Cards and letters of condolence may be sent in care of the Norton Shores Police Department at 4814 S. Henry St. in Norton Shores.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Norton Shores Crime Prevention Fund or the Wounded Warriors Project in Officer Ginka’s name.
Investigators are still working to determine what caused the crash, but preliminary findings show Ginka was wearing his seat belt and was driving 46 mph at the time of the crash. The data recorder inside the vehicle showed Ginka took his foot off the accelerator and put his foot on the brake just prior to collision with the tree,”according to a Michigan State Police report released Friday.
The 34-year-old officer leaves behind a wife and two children.
