Stretch of Ward Parkway closed today during funeral procession for fallen FBI agent

A stretch of northbound traffic along Ward Parkway will be closed beginning at 11 a.m. today for a funeral procession for an FBI agent who recently died of work-related brain cancer.

Special Agent Melissa S. Morrow, 48, was a first responder to the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on the Pentagon. Morrow was assigned to the Washington Field Office before she was assigned to the Kansas City office.

Morrow died Thursday of brain cancer.

On Tuesday, a stretch of Ward Parkway between 61st and 63rd streets will be closed from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Westbound traffic from Summit intersections may be reduced according to traffic needs.

The visitation for Morrow begins at 1:30 p.m. at the Country Club Christian Church, 6101 Ward Parkway. The funeral begins at 3 p.m.

During her assignment in Washington, Morrow was assigned to the Evidence Response Team.

FBI officials have classified Morrow's passing as a line-of-duty death because of her exposure to contaminants at the Pentagon and as a first responder in 2013 to a six-alarm fire in a warehouse fire in Alexandria, Va. The warehouse held evidence from the terrorist plane crash into the Pentagon. Morrow spent 10 weeks sifting through evidence from the attack.

Morrow, who joined the FBI in 1995, was certified by the World Trade Center Health Program and the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund.

This story was originally published March 27, 2018 at 10:27 AM with the headline "Stretch of Ward Parkway closed today during funeral procession for fallen FBI agent."