Metro

Funeral services set for MLB pitcher-turned-cop Anthony Varvaro

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Published Sep. 12, 2022
Updated Sep. 12, 2022, 5:59 p.m. ET

Funeral services for former Major League Baseball pitcher-turned-Port Authority cop Anthony Varvaro will be held this week in his native Staten Island.

Varvaro, 37, was killed by an alleged wrong-way driver in a head-on crash early Sunday on the New Jersey Turnpike while on his way to work at the commemoration of the 9/11 terror attacks in Manhattan.

A wake for Varvaro will be held Tuesday at the Matthew Funeral Home at 2508 Victory Blvd. on Staten Island from 4 to 7 p.m., and again on Wednesday from 2 to 5 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. at the same location, the Port Authority PBA announced.

The officer’s funeral Mass is then set for 10:30 a.m. Thursday at Our Lady of Good Counsel Church at 10 Austin Place on Staten Island, followed by his burial at St. Peter’s Cemetery on Tyler Avenue.

Funeral services for former MLB pitcher-turned-Port Authority cop Anthony Varvaro will be held this week in his native Staten Island.
Funeral services for former MLB pitcher-turned-Port Authority cop Anthony Varvaro will be held this week in his native Staten Island. PAPD

Varvaro is survived by his wife, Kerry, and the couple’s four children.

A St. John’s University graduate, Varvaro pitched in the major leagues for six years, spending most of his time with the Atlanta Braves but also hurling for the Seattle Mariners and the Boston Red Sox.

He left baseball to join the Port Authority police force in 2016 but remained active in the sport by coaching youngsters on Staten Island.

A GoFundMe page for the family raised more than $102,000 as of Monday.

“Nothing in the world mattered more to Anthony than his family, and this collection will ensure AJ, Johnny, Christina and Savannah are taken care of for the future,” the fundraiser’s organizers wrote on the page.

A wake for Anthony Varvaro will be held Tuesday at the Matthew Funeral Home.
A wake for Anthony Varvaro will be held Tuesday at the Matthew Funeral Home. New York Post

Varvaro was killed near Exit 14C of the turnpike near Jersey City.

Also killed in the crash was 30-year-old Henry Plazas of Bridgewater, NJ, who was driving the car that hit Varvaro’s vehicle, northjersey.com said Monday.