It was Jeannette police Officer Allen “Jack” Capozzi’s last call.

He and fellow Officer Carl Shifko went to the Piedmont Bar to break up an argument between two men Oct. 18, 1978. The officers separated them when something went wrong.

“He just collapsed,” Shifko said. “He had a heart condition that was unknown to anybody.”

Capozzi, 35, of Jeannette was rushed to Jeannette District Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 8:20 p.m., according to newspaper accounts. He died from a heart issue, according to coroner records.

Capozzi’s line-of-duty death will be remembered this year when his name is placed on the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, D.C. His name will be dedicated May 13 during a candlelight vigil.

Every May during National Police Week, new names of police officers who died in the line of duty are added to the national memorial.

Jeannette police were notified last month. Rocky Geppert of Millvale, a volunteer researcher with the Officer Down Memorial Page, said he submitted Capozzi’s name for consideration on the memorial a few years ago but was asked to provide additional documentation. He recently passed along more records about Capozzi’s death.

“We’re very proud that we’re getting him honored,” Geppert said.

Shifko, who retired in 2005 as police chief, remembered Capozzi as a “happy-go-lucky guy” and a “gentle giant.”

“He was just a big, happy, jolly old guy. He was a joy to be around,” Shifko said.

Capozzi had been working as a part-time officer on the force for six years at the time of his death, according to newspaper accounts. Shifko said he lived with a relative on Wylie Avenue.

“It is very gratifying to know that Officer Allen Capozzi has not been forgotten, that his name will forever be memorialized for paying the ultimate sacrifice in protecting the citizens of Jeannette,” police Chief Shannon Binda said.

Capozzi joins one other Jeannette police officer on the memorial — Officer Joseph Henry Bossert, 44, who died Jan. 29, 1921. Geppert and former Jeannette Officer Justin Scalzo, now with the Greensburg department, researched Bossert’s death. He was fatally shot while walking his beat in West Jeannette.

Shifko was appreciative of Geppert’s work to remember his fallen partner.

“I’m glad he’s getting his name on there,” Shifko said. “He deserved it.”

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