During a Monday morning memorial service at Ontelaunee Rod & Gun Club, retired Allentown Police Department Lt. D. Scott Reinhard called out each name of the 145 law enforcement personnel who died across the country during 2016.

As Reinhard named each of those heroes, he was unaware of the brave actions of another hero, Bill Seidl, retired as a police officer from Fountain Hill, and Allentown.Seidl and retired Maryland state trooper Mike Wheeler, one of the organizers, were the official gunners. They took turns firing a single shot downrange 100 yards, after Reinhard read each name and date of death, called the End of Watch.About midway through the service, Seidl received word that his brother-in-law had passed away.Family members knew the passing was expected to occur soon, possibly that morning - but true to his profession Seidl opted to fulfill the promise he'd made to event organizers, and participate in the service.He left when the list of names ended.Wheeler noted what had occurred, and asked attendees for a moment of silence to honor the man's passing.May 15 is National Peace Officer's Day nationwide, and a memorial service was held that day in Washington D.C.The Schuylkill-Carbon Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 13 honored 87 fallen members during its annual memorial service Monday.The group at Ontelaunee Rod & Gun Club gathers each year at the lodge in the Owl Creek section of Tamaqua to remember their brothers and sisters who died since the inception of the lodge in 1941.Wheeler and members of Ontelaunee want to start a local tradition, and launched the Angels with Badges Memorial Service."The event serves to kick off a week of fundraising to raise money for the families of officers killed in the line of duty," Wheeler said. "Angels with Badges is working on setting up a scholarship fund to children of slain officers to use to help pay for college."To donate, visit

www.angelswithbadges.com. A GoFundMe page is set up there. At the event Monday, raffle items included a red dot scope, binoculars and monoculars donated by Vortex Optics; a Mission BBQ gift basket (Mission BBQ also donated food for the event); a Sentinel Firearms gift card; four rounds of golf from Reading Country Club; and golf instruction. Vortex Optics also donated hats, wrist bands and stickers.Firearms Defense Industry, Oley, donated the ammunition for the event."Ideally during the year I hope to drum up support for next year's event," GeorgeGonzalez, owner of Firearms Defense. "At the shop I have very loyal clientele, and people involved in law enforcement are very loyal to each other - I hope next year there are fewer names."Throughout the nation, and included Puerto Rico, 145 law enforcement personnel died during 2016 (www.odmp.org has a list of names). The names include police officers, homeland security workers, corrections officers and others. The listings include the person's name, state, date of "End of Watch" and survivors.Of the 145 lost, 63 lost their lives due to gunfire; 29 died in crashes (21 auto, 8 motorcycle) and four died of illnesses related to exposure to toxins responding to 9/11.In Pennsylvania, four were lost: Dept. of Corrections Officer David M. Weaver (9/26/2016); Luzerne County Corrections Officer Kristopher David Moules (7/18/2016); Canonsburg Patrolman Scott Leslie Bashioum (11/10/2016); and State Trooper Landon Eugene Weaver (12/30/2016).Since 1791, 921 law enforcement personnel in Pennsylvania have lost their lives. To date in 2017, nationally, 48 have died (including 17 by gunfire and 21 auto-related).Lee Sell, New Tripoli, and Barbara Moyer, Fogelsville, attended the Memorial Service Monday to support Ontelaunee events and also in support of law enforcement personnel."We know people who are police officers and we came out to support all who do that work," Moyer said after the service ended with Reinhard reading the final name. "That was a lot of names. Too many."