Sears goes above and beyond for police widow

A remarkable example of old-school, customer-centric service played out in Franklin, Penn., last week.

On Jan. 13, Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Paul Richey was shot and killed when he responded to a domestic violence call. He leaves behind a wife, a 9-year-old son and a 6-year-old daughter.

The funeral service, held on the 17th in the local high school auditorium, was packed — an estimated 1,500 police officers from all over attended to pay their respects. In getting ready for the service, Richey's wife knew that she needed new clothes for herself and the children, but she simply was not up to the task of shopping.

An email sent from a member of the Retired State Police Association of Pennsylvania reveals what happened next:

So that morning she had called Sears because they were the first store to open at the mall. She explained who she was and that she needed to buy a few things and asked if it was possible for her to come up before the store opened to get what she needed so she wouldn't have to deal with seeing other people. At that point I wondered how she had the energy to even go to the mall, let alone look for clothes.

Sears delivered to her house, suits, shoes, clothes for all of them and wouldn't let her pay for any of it. She said she had so many clothes she didn't know what to do with them. She also said, she never thought much of Sears before but now it is her favorite store.

I called the store to make sure this wasn't just another Internet hoax, and a member of store management who needed to remain anonymous confirmed that it is true.

"It just seemed at the time, the right thing to do," they said. "All I can tell you is, she had a need and this store took care of it."