Rookie cop memorialized: 'He leaves us his dreams'

When interviewing for a position with the Minnetonka Police Department, Joe Plant was asked what his dream job would be.

"To work in the St. Paul Police Department," he replied.

To his sister later, he said, "I don't think I got that job."

Joe Plant could be excused. He was awfully young.

On Thursday, less than two weeks after realizing his dream of being a St. Paul cop, Plant, 24, was mourned by hundreds at his funeral at Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church in Maplewood.

Though he died off duty, suddenly taking ill last Saturday, Plant was given the full police send-off.

Bagpipes rang out at the close of the service, and so many officers attended that it took nearly five minutes for them to file in and take their seats.

Plant, physically fit and looking forward to his next marathon, died after only a couple shifts as an officer. Those speaking of him Thursday spoke as much about the goofy kid as the rookie cop, and about dreams and inspiration.

One sister, Adrienne Todd, referred to him as "Joey"; the other, Nicole Plant, recalled the boy who'd tell his mother everything, even the times "he swore in his head."

The Rev. Charles Lachowitzer, who led the service, noted that many of Plant's fellow academy members were in grade school when Presentation church last mourned the death of a young officer: Ron Ryan Jr., in 1994.

Lachowitzer, who knew the gregarious Plant as a child, asked aloud: "Was there anyone he didn't talk to?" And could he go anywhere, he added, without someone knowing him?

Police Chief John Harrington said the academy class will be part of Plant's legacy.

After the service, police spokesman Tom Walsh said that the department had yet to hear of a cause of death. Because there was no crime, he said, they may never know unless the family volunteers the information. Thus far, he said, they've shared nothing about it.