TribLIVE's Daily and Weekly e-mail newsletters provide the news you want and details you need, ideal to your inbox. About an hour ago Dolly Smith, at age 84, had the appearance of a kid
on Christmas early morning as she waited outside her Jeannette home for Mayor Curtis Antoniak and his better half, Karen, to arrive.”What do you have there?,”Smith coyly asked as the Antoniaks climbed up out of their truck carrying a framed
collage. Once inside the kitchen area, Smith saw a picture of her precious cousin, previous city police Officer Allen”Jack “Capozzi, in the frame together with a pencil etching of his name off the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, D.C. Tears rolled down her cheeks.”Oh, Jackie,”Smith said. A candlelight vigil prepared May 13 at the memorial to devote new names, consisting of that of Capozzi, was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Last weekend, the Antoniaks went
to Virginia to go to a grandson's very first communion and to commemorate their daughter Julie's birthday. They also checked out the memorial. “I informed Dolly last winter season I prepared to go to the dedication and it literally kept me up in the evening after(the commitment)was canceled. I'm really honored to be able to bring this back to her … and I can now sleep in the evening,”Curtis Antoniak stated.”When I ran into Dolly at the Shop ‘n Save and told her I prepared to enter May and I ‘d get her a pencil etching, she started sobbing right there.” In October 1978, Capozzi and fellow Officer Carl Shifko went to the Piedmont Bar to break up an argument in between 2 males. The officers separated them when something went wrong. Capozzi collapsed. The 35-year-old was rushed to Jeannette District Memorial Hospital, where he was noticable dead. He died from a heart concern, according to coroner records. Law enforcement officer from around the nation pertained to Jeannette for Capozzi's funeral service, Smith said.
He is buried in Sacred Heart Cemetery in Lincoln Heights. As he passed away in the line of duty, his named was put on the nationwide memorial this spring. Rocky Geppert of Millvale, a volunteer
researcher with the Officer Down Memorial Page, stated he submitted Capozzi's name for consideration on the memorial a couple of years ago however was asked to offer extra paperwork. He recently passed along more records. Capozzi signs up with another Jeannette policeman on the
memorial– Joseph Bossert, 44, who died Jan. 29, 1921, after being shot while walking his beat in West Jeannette. Geppert and former Jeannette Officer Justin Scalzo, now with the Greensburg department, investigated Bossert's death. Antoniak stated Shifko, who retired in 2005 as authorities chief, described Capozzi as a” huge teddy bear.” Smith stated Capozzi's size typically terrified away difficulty.”Nobody tinkered Jackie. But he was constantly assisting everybody,”Smith said. She recalled that she was raised in Jeannette with Capozzi. His dad died serving in Germany in the 1940s and his mother, Carmella Capozzi, died when he was 11, Smith stated. Capozzi dealt with his auntie, Didi Trongo
.”My mother and father both worked, so I would go over to my Aunt Didi's and Uncle Joe's during the week on Wylie Avenue. Jackie
was always a great kid, and I was like his big sis,”Smith recalled. Karen Antoniak said she grew up a few doors far from the
Trongos and remembered Capozzi as a”mild giant.
“”He loved being a cop. He loved dealing with automobiles … his, mine and for other member of the family, “Smith added. Smith remembered in the 1960s Capozzi owned a burgundy
Pontiac GTO that he rarely secured of the garage.”It would only come out if it was warm and then he ‘d drive it around the block, polish it and put it back in the garage. That's how he was with that automobile,” Smith stated, chuckling
. Capozzi had actually been working as a part-time officer in Jeannette for six years at the time of his death, according to
paper accounts. Smith said he likewise worked at the Allegheny County Airport near West Mifflin. She has a picture
of him filling up an airplane with fuel hanging in her home. “I can't believe they (the Antoniaks)did this for me.
It appears like it was made to go right there, “she said as she hung the collage on a wall in her dining room.”Jackie would have been so modest about getting all this attention
. He ‘d say,'Oh, you didn't have to go to all this difficulty,” Smith stated, turning back to appreciate the collage that likewise includes photographs of the memorial and a Jeannette Police Department spot. Paul Peirce is a Tribune-Review personnel writer. You can get in touch with Paul at 724-850-2860, ppeirce@triblive.com!.?.! or via Twitter. Categories: Editor's Picks|Regional|Westmoreland TribLIVE's Daily and Weekly e-mail newsletters deliver the news you want and information you require, best to your inbox.
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