LOCKPORT – The controversy over a monument in her hometown for fallen Buffalo Police Officer Patricia A. Parete was resolved amicably Wednesday, as her strongest supporter agreed with city officials that a general memorial for all “fallen heroes” would be acceptable.
Exactly what form that will take has yet to be determined. Mayor Michael W. Tucker will appoint a committee of officials and citizens to come up with a policy on memorials, with two aldermen, Kathryn J. “Kitty” Fogle and Kenneth M. Genewick, serving as co-chairmen.
The other members will include representatives of the Police and Fire departments, a military veteran, a historian and other citizens. Tucker said he expects a report in about two months.
“Thanks for agreeing to find a way to honor our friend Patty Parete,” Joseph DiPasquale, of Buffalo, president of the Lockport High School Class of 1983, told the Common Council at Wednesday’s meeting. “We will hold you to your promise to find a way to honor all our fallen heroes.”
Parete, a member of that class, died Feb. 2 at age 48, after more than six years as a quadriplegic. She was shot in the neck while trying to quell a fight in a Buffalo convenience store.
DiPasquale originally proposed renaming Rogers Avenue Park in Parete’s memory. The Council rejected that idea and last week suggested using a fountain in Outwater Park as a Parete memorial. The problem was that the fountain hasn’t worked for several years and that its concrete base is crumbling; aldermen suggested that the Class of 1983 should repair it.
The angry DiPasquale then accused city leaders of being unwilling to honor Parete because she was gay, an accusation that Tucker vehemently denied. Asked if he had changed his position on an individual memorial, he said, “I didn’t change. I became educated.”
He contended that his “very public, at times very passionate discourse” convinced the Council that it made a mistake in turning down a request to name a bridge after Army Spc. Albert R. Jex, of Lockport, who was killed in Iraq in 2009.
Cathleen MacFarlane, Jex’s mother, was pleased with a general memorial. “I am thrilled something’s going to be coming of it,” she said.
The family of Niagara County Sheriff’s Deputy Jeffrey D. Incardona, who was killed in a 1993 car crash while rushing to aid a Lockport police officer who had been shot, never asked for a memorial but Wednesday sent a letter saying that a memorial “for all fallen heroes would be appropriate.”
“We have no police memorial in the city,” Police Chief Lawrence M. Eggert said. “There are other unrecognized people who ought to be recognized.” One was Officer Leonard M. Steinkuhler, who in 1957 became the only Lockport officer ever killed on duty.
“We realize that the leaders of the City of Lockport have a dilemma in determining memorials for not only Patti, but some of the other fallen heroes of your great city,” Kevin M. Kennedy, president of the Buffalo Police Benvolent Association, wrote in a letter to Tucker. “We hope that these same leaders can see their way to keep Patty in mind when dedicating a space for her memory to live on.”
email: tprohaska@buffnews.com
Exactly what form that will take has yet to be determined. Mayor Michael W. Tucker will appoint a committee of officials and citizens to come up with a policy on memorials, with two aldermen, Kathryn J. “Kitty” Fogle and Kenneth M. Genewick, serving as co-chairmen.
The other members will include representatives of the Police and Fire departments, a military veteran, a historian and other citizens. Tucker said he expects a report in about two months.
“Thanks for agreeing to find a way to honor our friend Patty Parete,” Joseph DiPasquale, of Buffalo, president of the Lockport High School Class of 1983, told the Common Council at Wednesday’s meeting. “We will hold you to your promise to find a way to honor all our fallen heroes.”
Parete, a member of that class, died Feb. 2 at age 48, after more than six years as a quadriplegic. She was shot in the neck while trying to quell a fight in a Buffalo convenience store.
DiPasquale originally proposed renaming Rogers Avenue Park in Parete’s memory. The Council rejected that idea and last week suggested using a fountain in Outwater Park as a Parete memorial. The problem was that the fountain hasn’t worked for several years and that its concrete base is crumbling; aldermen suggested that the Class of 1983 should repair it.
The angry DiPasquale then accused city leaders of being unwilling to honor Parete because she was gay, an accusation that Tucker vehemently denied. Asked if he had changed his position on an individual memorial, he said, “I didn’t change. I became educated.”
He contended that his “very public, at times very passionate discourse” convinced the Council that it made a mistake in turning down a request to name a bridge after Army Spc. Albert R. Jex, of Lockport, who was killed in Iraq in 2009.
Cathleen MacFarlane, Jex’s mother, was pleased with a general memorial. “I am thrilled something’s going to be coming of it,” she said.
The family of Niagara County Sheriff’s Deputy Jeffrey D. Incardona, who was killed in a 1993 car crash while rushing to aid a Lockport police officer who had been shot, never asked for a memorial but Wednesday sent a letter saying that a memorial “for all fallen heroes would be appropriate.”
“We have no police memorial in the city,” Police Chief Lawrence M. Eggert said. “There are other unrecognized people who ought to be recognized.” One was Officer Leonard M. Steinkuhler, who in 1957 became the only Lockport officer ever killed on duty.
“We realize that the leaders of the City of Lockport have a dilemma in determining memorials for not only Patti, but some of the other fallen heroes of your great city,” Kevin M. Kennedy, president of the Buffalo Police Benvolent Association, wrote in a letter to Tucker. “We hope that these same leaders can see their way to keep Patty in mind when dedicating a space for her memory to live on.”
email: tprohaska@buffnews.com