--- bin/catalina.sh	(revision 1398657)
+++ bin/catalina.sh	(working copy)
@@ -471,6 +471,7 @@ 
     fi
   fi
 
+  KILL_SLEEP_INTERVAL=5
   if [ $FORCE -eq 1 ]; then
     if [ -z "$CATALINA_PID" ]; then
       echo "Kill failed: \$CATALINA_PID not set"
@@ -479,9 +480,22 @@ 
         PID=`cat "$CATALINA_PID"`
         echo "Killing Tomcat with the PID: $PID"
         kill -9 $PID
-        rm -f "$CATALINA_PID" >/dev/null 2>&1
-        if [ $? != 0 ]; then
-          echo "Tomcat was killed but the PID file could not be removed."
+        while [ $KILL_SLEEP_INTERVAL -ge 0 ]; do
+            kill -0 `cat "$CATALINA_PID"` >/dev/null 2>&1
+            if [ $? -gt 0 ]; then
+                rm -f "$CATALINA_PID" >/dev/null 2>&1
+                if [ $? != 0 ]; then
+                    echo "Tomcat was killed but the PID file could not be removed."
+                fi
+                break
+            fi
+            if [ $KILL_SLEEP_INTERVAL -gt 0 ]; then
+                sleep 1
+            fi
+            KILL_SLEEP_INTERVAL=`expr $KILL_SLEEP_INTERVAL - 1 `
+        done
+        if [ $KILL_SLEEP_INTERVAL -gt 0 ]; then
+            echo "Tomcat did not get killed completely just yet. The process might be waiting on some system call or might be UNINTERRUPTIBLE."
         fi
       fi
     fi