Police Officer Louis Duffy
Louis Stickney Duffy was born on September 4, 1917, in Baltimore, Maryland. He was a police officer for Cherry Hill Police Department, which at the time was known as Delaware Township.
He was killed in an automobile accident on March 19, 1947 as he responded to a call from a local business. The owner of the business had become alarmed after noticing strange markings on his door, which were later linked to the local mafia. Office Duffy was transported to the hospital following the accident, but succumbed to his injuries a short time later.
He was due to depart for Maryland to visit his ailing mother, but never had the chance.
PO Duffy is buried in Locustwood Cemetery, Cherry Hill, NJ.
COURIER POST 2007 Article;
The call came in of a possible break in at a local tavern just as Patrolman Louis Duffy's graveyard shift was about to end.
His mother was dying and Duffy was preparing to travel to Baltimore that day to be with her.
But he never made it.
On his way to the tavern, Duffy lost control of his vehicle, hit a pole along Route 70 next to Locustwood Cemetery and severly fractured his skull. A few hours later, the 29 year old patrolman died at the hospital, leaving behind a wife and four children, one as young as 2 years old.
To memoralize the 60th anniversary of his death, the Cherry Hill Police Department, particularily its historical committee, succeeded last month in getting Duffy's name on the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Wall in Washington DC.
Last week, the township presented Duffy's children with a proclamation in remembrance of the fallen officers service to community.
He remains the only police officer killed in the line of duty in the departments 83 year history, which dates back to when Cherry Hill was known as Delaware Township.
"Louis Duffy embodies the spirit and commitment of all the men and women of this police department from the past to the present," Mayor Bernie Platt said. "(He) gave his life responding to a call in the name of public safety."
The police department first learned of the patrolmans sacrifice more than 10 years ago from his grandson, Richard Duffy, who was trying to collect as much information as he could about his grandfather for his family tree project. But it was only with the creation of the departments historical committee within the last 2 years that Cherry Hill police got serious about memoralizing Duffy and inducting him on to the national memorial wall.
"He deserved it," Capt Robert Schuenemann, who helped create the historical committee.
Duffy served at a time when the police department was a small force protecting about 10,000 residents. Many times the officers drove their own vehicles to incident scenes. Such history is important because it gives a sense of pride to the officers currently working the department, Schuenemann said.
"If you take pride in your past, you;ll take pride in your present, " he said.
Today, a plague dedicated to Duffy hangs in the police department's lobby, along with his photograph.
"The whole attention to is is just amazing, " said Wilma Fischer, 66, of Port Saint Lucie FL, who is Duffy's eldest child. "Its a shame my mohter wasnt here to see this."
Duffy's wife, Wilma, died in 1999.
On May 13, Fischer attended the candlelight vigil at the national memorial wall with her siblings; Louis Duffy Jr, 65, of Toms River; Eileen Seher, 62, of Cherry Hill; and June Myers, 62, of Williamstown.
"I would have loved for him to see us grow up," said Louis Duffy Jr.
CHILDHOOD MEMORIES
Duffy Jr and Fischer are the two children who have some memory of their father. He'd always go into his kids bedroom to kiss them goodnight and most times he picked Fischer up from school.
There was the time Duffy Jr was having a problem with a bully in the neighborhood. Fahter and son went to the ice cream shop, passed by the bullys home and asked the kid if he wanted to come along. Duffy made sure to wear his police officers uniform. The bully never bother Duffy Jr again.
"My mom always called him a fun loving Irishman," Seher said. "I dont remember him at all. I always envy my brother and my older sister that"
She doesnt envy their memories of the morning police officers knocked on the family's door to inform their mother of what had happened.
"She was in shock," Duffy Jr. said "She was hysterical."
"I remember the phone ringing in the morning and all the commmotion," Fischer said.
Seher visits her fathers grave at Locustwood Cemetery every holiday even though she never knew him. She often worders if he'd be proud of his children, who grew up a close-knit clan.
Louis Duffy Graduate of South Jersey Suburban Police Association School 1945
The_Evening_Sun_Wed__Mar_19__1947
The_Morning_Call_Fri__Mar_21__1947_
The_Evening_Sun_Tue__Mar_25__1947
Courier Post June 3, 2007
Courier Post June 3, 2007
Courier Post June 28, 2007
The_Baltimore_Sun_Fri__May_16__1947
Louis Duffy's mother passes away 2 months after his death...
Courier_Post_Tue__Jun_24__1947_
John McAllister fills Duffy's position...
Courier_Post_Tue__Jan_4__1949
.....appointment of Mrs wilhelminia Duffy as tax search clerk & names her deputy tax collector....
Courier_Post_Wed__Dec_28__1949
PO Duffy's widow, Wilma, retires as Tax Clerk and plans to marry
PO Duffy's brother Leonard wounded in action 1944
PO Duffy's brother Leonard killed in action 1945
Courier_Post_Tue__Mar_16__1999
PO Duffy's widow passes away...
Courier_Post_Mon__Feb_13__1950
PO Duffy's widow remarries in Feb 1950