Stephen E. Boland Jr. | Police sergeant, 67

Stephen E. Boland Jr., 67, of West Chester, a police sergeant in West Goshen Township, died of lung cancer Wednesday at home.

For 32 years, until retiring in March, Sgt. Boland was a member of the West Goshen Township Police Department. In 1988, he was acting police chief. He liked people, his daughter Karen said, and knew everyone in the township.

Sgt. Boland graduated from Red Bank Catholic High School in Red Bank, N.J., and then served in the Navy for three years. After his discharge, he worked with horses on breeding farms and at racetracks on the East Coast just as his father had.

From 1964 to 1965, he was a police officer in Philadelphia and then returned to working with horses.

By 1971, he had a family and needed a stable lifestyle and income, his daughter said. He joined the Caln Township Police Department and four years later joined the West Goshen department.

In addition to his daughter, Sgt. Boland is survived by his wife of 42 years, Miriam Barrows Boland; a daughter Jane Paolo; a sister; and two grandchildren.

A memorial service will be at 11 a.m. today at Westminster Presbyterian Church, Route 202 and West Pleasant Grove Road, West Chester.