JENNIFER HUBERDEAU

The North Adams Transcript

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. -- U.S. Army Pfc. Michael DeMarsico II will be brought home Wednesday.

A motorcade, arriving at about 12:30 p.m., will travel along Route 2, coming into the city on Union Street and briefly stopping at the Veterans Memorial Park before continuing over the Veterans Memorial Bridge and along West Main Street to the Flynn & Dagnoli Funeral Home, West Chapels.

DeMarsico, 20, died on Aug. 16 from wounds sustained in an explosion of an enemy improvised explosive device while serving in Panjway, Afghanistan. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team; 2nd Infantry Division out of Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash.

"Right now, the family has asked that the motorcade remain fairly contained, so our Veterans Service Agent Steven Roy is contacting local veterans groups and asking them to either form along the motorcade route or even more appropriately, to gather at the Veterans Memorial Park," Mayor Richard J. Alcombright, who spoke on behalf of the DeMarsico family, said Friday. "We’re also hoping the community will come out and give a good showing, lining the route from the top of Union Street to the Veterans Memorial Bridge. We’d love to see as many people as possible come out to greet the family as they return home."

Parking at the funeral home, at 521 West Main St., will only be available for the family and the motorcade.

Calling hours will be held at the funeral home on Friday, Aug. 31 from 2 to 7 p.m., with funeral services and a celebration of his life beginning at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 1, at the First Baptist Church on Main Street.

A funeral procession will begin at the Flynn & Dagnoli Funeral home, traveling up West Main Street onto Main Street until it arrives at the church.

Burial at Southview Cemetery will follow the service, with the procession beginning at the church, turning north onto Eagle Street and traveling past the Veterans Memorial Park onto Route 2. The procession will then turn left onto Holden Street, and continue onto Main Street before turning onto American Legion Drive. From there it will turn onto Ashland Street and continue south until arriving at the cemetery.

A reception will immediately follow the services at the St. Elizabeth’s Parish Center on St. Anthony Drive.

The mayor said he expects to have more details about the arrangements next week and advised the public that on Saturday, general traffic along the procession routes will be detoured and that there may be periods of heavy congestion.