SOUTH PHILLY: Tables Overflow At Police Banquet

by Maria Merlino
The annual 1st Police Dist. Banquet was so well populated that owner Lou Galdo had to add several additional tables of 10 in his banquet hall to accommodate the crowd. Three officers who gave up their lives in call of duty and two officers who miraculously recovered were honored on May 28, at Galdo’s Catering & Entertainment Complex on 20th & Moyamensing Avenue.

GEAR President Jodi Della Barba, Police Officer Paul Bryson, who’s family is Mummer royalty, and Rosetta L. Conigliaro from New York Life, hold up T-shirts that were used as a fundraiser for the Police Advisory Council. On Thursday, May 28, at Galdo’s Catering and Entertainment Complex on 20th and Moyamensing Avenue, The Annual First District Banquet was held. See full story in next week’s paper. Photo by Maria Merlino

On Apr. 23, 1990, Officer Charles Knox was answering a call for a robbery in progress with his partner Anthony Howard, Jr. The Roy Rogers at Broad & Snyder Avenue was being held up. He was on the phone to wife Arlene and told her he would be careful. However, the robber’s bullets proved lethal, and he succumbed to his injuries that night.
Cpl. Jim Tsafos was snatched from the jaws of death in July 1983. He was shot twice in the neck while working in the district’s operations room. He struggled to overcome a stroke, vision loss and seizures. He triumphed. His recovery took him back to school, where he earned a doctorate. For the past 15 years, he’s been a project manager and teacher at Drexel University.
Assigned to the 1st Dist., Officer James A. Rementer died of a heart attack after moving drums of oil to the district’s headquarters. He was pronounced dead at St. Agnes Hospital by Dr. Kanoff.

KOREAN War Marine veteran Ted Scairato receives Governor’s Award from State Rep. Maria Donatucci. Octogenarian Scairato is indefatigable worker and a lifelong resident of South Phila. He is working on the Korean War Veteran Memorial on Moyamensing Avenue. Photo by Maria Merlino

Police Officer Gennaro “Gerry” Pelligrini not only kept the streets safe in Philadelphia but also was a reservist in the military and did his duty in Iraq. He was inspired by a Vietnam vet, Father Herman Brinkman, a retired army colonel who served as a chaplain. An amateur boxer, Gerry fulfilled a lifelong dream and won a pro fight before leaving for the Middle East. He made his Supreme Sacrifice on Aug. 9, 2005.
One of the elite in the Highway Patrol, John D’Amico was transferred to the Narcotic Division, where he served for 13 years and became one of the most highly decorated officers in Narcotics. He was also recognized for bringing down foreign drug cartels.
Shot in the line of duty 10 times in four separate incidences, John was always the first through the door. In 1982, on a drug raid he was shot in the mouth. He spit out the bullet and also 11 teeth. He also was shot in the hip and back in another raid.

PASTOR of St. Monica’s Church, Father Joseph Kelley, center, was called upon to deliver invocation at annual 1st Dist. Banquet. GEAR President Jody Della Barba also donated money for new bicycle for police district. Photo by Maria Merlino

After rehab, he became aggressive and his wife Linda asked him, “Are you crazy?” before John returned to his beloved narcotics unit. After retiring, he served as chief of the Pennsylvania Attorney General Bureau of Narcotics Investigation. He completed his earthly mission March 24, 2015.

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