Friends, family and co-workers say "Big Mac" was a gentle giant.
At 6-foot-5 and 250 pounds, William L. McEntee's imposing frame masked the softer side of a man described as a compassionate soccer coach, a devoted father and an aggressive police sergeant in Kirkwood.
"He was just a big, lovable guy, " said ºüÀêÊÓƵ County police Capt. Kurt Frisz, who attended the police academy with Sgt. McEntee nearly 20 years ago. "If you got into a fight, you'd definitely want him on your side. He was loyal, no doubt about it."
The 19-year veteran of the Kirkwood department was gunned down Tuesday night on Alsobrook Street near Meacham Park in Kirkwood. Sgt. McEntee was the second Kirkwood officer killed in the line of duty since 1898.
Police said Wednesday that Sgt. McEntee was talking to a 13-year-old boy about a fireworks disturbance when a man approached the passenger's side of Sgt. McEntee's patrol car and fired a 9 mm handgun several times, striking the boy in the leg and Sgt. McEntee in the face. The boy's wound was not considered life-threatening.
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Sgt. McEntee died Tuesday night at St. John's Mercy Medical Center in Creve Coeur. He was 43.
Sgt. McEntee played soccer for Bishop DuBourg High School and graduated in 1980. His team finished second in the state playoffs in 1979. After high school, he worked various jobs, including one for an asphalt company that belonged to an uncle, said a cousin, Lt. Tim McEntee, 54, of the ºüÀêÊÓƵ Police Department. He said William McEntee tried getting a job as a city police officer but couldn't because of a hiring freeze in the mid-1980s.
Sgt. McEntee joined the Kirkwood Police Department on Jan. 12, 1986. He was promoted to sergeant on Dec. 17, 2000.
Tom Seymour, 50, an investigator with the Boeing Co., became friends with Sgt. McEntee while working as a Kirkwood police officer from 2001 to 2004. Seymour said Sgt. McEntee was professional, gave good advice and made him laugh.
"You could depend on him stepping up to the plate, " Seymour said. "We all owe our lives to him because it could have been anyone of us who answered that call. In giving his life, he saved someone else's."
Outside his life as a police officer, Sgt. McEntee coached baseball and soccer teams at the St. Simon the Apostle Catholic School for at least five years. His three children -- Katie, 13, Brendan, 10, and Conor, 7 -- attend classes there.
Jim Stout, 45, athletics director at St. Simon, said Sgt. McEntee was scheduled to judge seventh- and eighth-grade soccer tryouts later this month.
"Everybody liked him, " Stout said. "I never heard anybody say a cross word about him."
Ron Battelle, executive director of Backstoppers, a charity for the families of fallen police and firefighters, said the organization has presented the McEntee family with a $3,000 check and will discuss additional help in the coming weeks.
"Our goal is to make them debt-free, " said Battelle, former chief of the ºüÀêÊÓƵ County police. "We're there for the long term."
Besides his wife, Mary McEntee, and children, survivors include his mother, Florence McEntee; two sisters, Kathleen McEntee and Jayne McEntee; and a brother, Michael McEntee, all of the ºüÀêÊÓƵ area.
Visitation will be from 2 to 9 p.m. Friday at Kutis Funeral Home, 10151 Gravois Road, ºüÀêÊÓƵ County. The funeral will begin with a prayer service at 10:15 a.m. Saturday at the funeral home. A funeral Mass will start at 11 a.m. Saturday at the St. Simon the Apostle Catholic Church, 11011 Mueller Road, ºüÀêÊÓƵ County. Burial will follow at Resurrection Cemetery, 6901 MacKenzie Road, Affton.
Memorials may be sent to Backstoppers, P.O. Box 66927, ºüÀêÊÓƵ, Mo. 63166.
Heather Ratcliffe of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.