Arnold dedicates memorial to officers killed in 1953

The children of the late Arnold police Chief Michael Peltz and Sgt. Ernie Johnson both used the same word to describe Saturday's ceremony honoring their fathers: “Overwhelming.”

Phil Peltz, 74, of Texas and Relda Johnson Lipanot, 80, of Allegheny Township were joined by a crowd of about 150 to unveil a memorial recognizing the two policemen who died in the line of duty during a shootout with a disturbed city resident April 2, 1953.

Two other officers — Patrolman Matt Barto and Sgt. Edward Bollinger — were shot before the gunman, Virgil Backus, was fatally wounded. Barto and Bollinger survived their injuries.

Retired Arnold police Chief Ron Hopkins reflected on the trauma that left 40 percent of the city's police force dead or injured 62 years ago.

“Arnold at that time was an up-and-coming third class city,” said Hopkins, who joined Arnold's force in 1974. “It was a safe period of time. There was a euphoria — we'd just won World War II and were coming out of the Korean Conflict.”

He noted most, if not all, of Arnold's officers were World War II veterans. Although they may not have had the training, technology or communication devices today's officers would use during an encounter with a barricaded gunman, they didn't hesitate to intercede and help Backus' wife and children escape the house, Hopkins said.

“It must have been horrible,” Hopkins said. “For all intents and purposes, war was waged all over again.”

Phil Peltz, then 12, said he remembers being awakened that morning when Barto, who was shot in the arm in an initial encounter with Backus, knocked on their door seeking the chief. The Peltz family lived not far from the Backus home on Fourth Avenue.

“It wasn't long after that we heard the shooting,” Phil Peltz said. “We never saw our father conscious again.”

Among the attendees Saturday was retired state police Trooper Mike Honkus of Lower Burrell, the only law enforcement officer involved in the shootout still living.

Despite being the son of a city police officer, Arnold Mayor Larry Milito said he never knew about the incident until he took office in 2012 and saw a photo of Peltz and Johnson in the police department.

The framed picture, a reprint of a New Kensington Daily Dispatch photo taken minutes before Peltz and Johnson were shot, was on display Saturday. Police Chief Willie Weber said a paper inside the frame contains rubbings of the men's etched names taken from the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington.

Milito said it wasn't until he was approaching his teenage years that he began to understand the risk his father, Vince Milito, took as a police officer. He and other speakers urged attendees to appreciate the service of police.

“That sense of security doesn't come on its own,” Milito said.

“These guys and gals need all of your prayers every day,” said Rev. Harold Mele, the chaplain for the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 39 that represents many local police departments.

Hopkins said the proximity of the granite, keystone-shaped monument to the police station is appropriate. It sits along Drey Street in front of the renamed Johnson Peltz Public Safety Building.

An emotional Milito thanked the Rusiewicz family and other local businesses and residents for the donations that made the memorial possible.

The Peltz and Johnson families stood in the steady rain below an American flag supported by two city fire trucks to view the stone and place wreaths beside it.

Barb Peltz Stalling, 53, of Arnold said it was an emotional day even for family members such as herself who never met Peltz or Johnson.

“It's 62 years later, and we still cry,” she said.

Mercedes Peltz, Phil Peltz's wife, said their son Michael daily wears the military dog tags of his grandfather and namesake.

Terry Peltz, Michael Peltz's other son, was unable to attend Saturday's ceremony but was represented by his son, Doug Peltz of Oregon.

Relda Johnson Lipanot is the only surviving sibling of the Johnson children, which included Harold, Norman and Linda.

She remembers her father as a family man and dedicated public servant.

“A happy-go-lucky guy” is how Phil Peltz described his father. “The memories are still very vivid.”

Liz Hayes is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. She can be reached at lhayes@tribweb.com or 724-226-4680.