Hundreds of friends, family members and police officers attended the funeral for Yorktown Police Lt. Kenneth Sgroi on Saturday, during which he was promoted posthumously to captain.

Sgroi, a police officer for 16 years, died suddenly on Jan. 2 after fighting an illness. He leaves behind a wife and two young children.

During the ceremony, the priest, who was a longtime friend of Sgroi, praised him for his humility.

"He said, 'When I die, not too many people are going to know me. It'll be a small funeral. It's not going to be a big deal.' Well, what a surprise,” the priest said.

MORE: Wake held for fallen Yorktown police officer

Some town leaders believed Sgroi might have become Yorktown’s police chief one day. His colleagues also remember him as an organized and passionate individual.

"They always made fun of him because he used to put the yellow sticky pads all over his desk and he'd have little notes to get done during the day. At the end of the day, those sticky notes were gone, and complete,” said Yorktown Town Supervisor Thomas Diana.

Diana was on the town board that promoted Sgroi to sergeant, and later promoted him again to lieutenant five months ago. Now, as town supervisor, Diana posthumously promoted Sgroi to captain.

As one final gesture to Sgroi, Diana is also working to rename the address of the Yorktown police department to 1 Kenneth Sgroi Plaza.