FOP Quaker Lodge 88 Memorial Luncheon

Tuesday - May 11: The annual Memorial Luncheon to honor law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty took place this past Tuesday at the Taste of Country Restaurant in Lisbon. It was sponsored by the FOP Quaker Lodge. It was a packed house and a somber reminder that law officers are literally putting their lives on the line every time they report to duty.

The luncheon was organized by Sheriff's Office Sgt. Kenny Biacco and retired Salem PD officer John Less served as the Master-of-Ceremonies. The Rev. Monsignor Robert Siffrin offered the invocation and benediction. Siffrin is a member of the Youngstown Catholic Diocese. Guest speaker was Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray.

Cordray said that since first documented there are 732 plagues honoring officers that died while on duty on the wall at the State Police Academy. That documentation goes back to 1832. So far this year there have been four officers killed in the line of duty. The latest was Jerod Dean from Boston Heights that was hit by a car while he was clearing debris off the highway.

The last officer lost in our district was Youngstown Police Officer Michael Hartzell who was shot during a traffic stop on April 29, 2003. Parents Howard & Mary Kay Hartzell and Michael's aunt & uncle Donna & Bill Leskovec were special guests of honor at the luncheon. Keeping the memory of Hartzell alive there is an annual golf outing at Knoll Run Golf course to raise funds for a scholarship. You can contact Sgt. Biacco for more information on the event.

John Less read a roll call of officers in our area that died in the line of duty followed by Mr. Glenn Duncan playing Going Home & Amazing Grace on the bag pipes.

You may recognize some of the Wellsville people in the collage above. It was a somber reminder that although those that died in the line of duty are gone they are not forgotten. As survivor Vivian Eney Cross was quoted on the program "It is not how these officers died that made them heroes, it is how they lived".

Thanks folks for the jobs you do...

ole nib