Ocean County Sheriff’s officer, who died of COVID, to be laid to rest on March 14

TOMS RIVER — Funeral arrangements have been made for the Ocean County Sheriff’s officer who died last week from complications related to COVID-19, said Sheriff Michael G. Mastronardy on Monday.

Sgt. Matthew S. Horton will be laid to rest at the Brigadier General William C. Doyle Memorial Cemetery in North Hanover in Burlington County about 1 p.m. on March 14.

The funeral service will take place at 11 a.m. that day at the Manchester Memorial Funeral Home at 28 Schoolhouse Road in the Whiting section of Manchester. A procession to the cemetery, which is about 20 miles from the funeral home, is to follow the service, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

The day before, visitation will take place at the funeral home from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. on March 13.

‘Think of a memory’: Hundreds memorialize Ocean County Sheriff’s Officer Brian Stockhoff

Horton, who was 40 and had lived in Berkeley, was the first commander of the department’s Rapid Deployment Team and served in its judicial, field services and professional standards units.

Horton leaves behind a wife and four sons.

A Marine Corps veteran, Horton joined the Sheriff’s Department in 2007 and graduated from the Ocean County Police Academy in Lakewood the following year.

He died on Feb. 22, while hospitalized, after a long battle with the coronavirus. Over the past two years, the pandemic has claimed the lives of almost 6 million people worldwide and 947,000 people in the United States, including 2,681 residents of Ocean County as of Monday, according to the county Health Department.

Related: Ocean County Sheriff’s officer, 40, dies of complications from COVID-19

Horton’s passing came a little more than one week after Sheriff’s Officer Brian Stockhoff died in a car crash on Feb. 14 at the age of 41.

Erik Larsen: 732-682-9359 or elarsen@gannettnj.com

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: NJ sheriff’s officer, who died of COVID, to have funeral on March 14