It was a task one might otherwise think was of little importance, but to Summit Hill Mayor Jeff Szczecina, members of American Legion Post 316, Summit Hill, and a Berks County-based Fraternal Order of Police lodge, making sure the memory of a slain officer is both necessary and gratifying.

The hilltop burgess recently oversaw the restoration of the resting site memorial of the late Phillip C. Melley, a Summit Hill native who was killed in the line of duty as a Pennsylvania State Police trooper almost 68 years ago.

Melley is buried in St. Joseph Catholic Church Cemetery in the White Bear section of Summit Hill, where Szczecina, a retired state police corporal, visited this week and proudly displayed the state police and American flags that are adjacent to the tombstone that bears the officer’s name.

“It’s gratifying; necessary,” Szczecina said about the recent project whereby Melley’s gravestone was restored under his watch.

The story’s beginning

Szczecina said he was contacted earlier this year by Sgt. Mike Keating of PSP’s Lehighton barracks, who asked him to meet troopers at Melley’s grave so they can comply with the state police’s commitment to decorating the graves of fallen officers in time for the agency’s annual May 2 State Police Memorial Day.

When he went there, he said, “I noticed you can barely read it (Melley’s stone), it having been the obvious victim of weather factors. “Knowing his (Melley’s) story, I thought we ought to do something about this.”

When Szczecina was speaking to the Rev. Bob George, who at the time was pastor of St. Joseph Church of the Panther Valley (before his transfer in June), the priest said he knew how the stone could be restored, providing him the name of Dignified Monument & Marker Care, Mahanoy City, to look into the project.

Sought Legion’s help

A mainstay and activist as a Son of the American Legion Post 316, Szczecina sought the financial assistance of his service organization friends to help make the project a reality.

“I obtained a price (to have the stone cleaned) and asked the post members if they’d be willing to help,” he said, adding, “Without any hesitation, everybody said, ‘Absolutely, we’ll do it.’ ”

He commented, “We feel strongly about giving back to the community,” citing a number of supporting initiatives, including those for the American Cancer Society, Memorial Day Parade Committee, Notre Dame Club, which they partnered with in a recent flag-burning ceremony, and borough events like Christmas on the Hill and Summit Hill Recreation Commission events.

The mayor said, “A lot of veterans organizations are dying off, but feel like we’re thriving and want to do whatever we can to assist the community. We want the Legion to always be there for our community. There are actually three organizations (Post, Sons and Auxiliary) at the Legion who work together for that cause.”

FOP joins effort

Szczecina said word about the Melley project reached his former co-worker, Leo Luciani, who is active in the Phillip C. Melley Memorial Lodge 65, Fraternal Order of Police, and the lodge members expressed a desire to pay for the restoration.

“When we heard about the need to restore his tombstone, it was a no brainer,” said Mark Knock, lodge president. “We want to do our part in preserving his memory. (Melley’s) loss of life is something near and dear to our hearts; our lodge is named after him.”

The lodge, he said, represents police in Lebanon, Schuylkill and Berks counties and includes five state police barracks (Jonestown, Hamburg, Reading, Frackville and Schuylkill Haven).

Knock added, “Our job as police officers is a calling to service. Blessed are the peacemakers, right? We instill peace in chaotic situations. But it’s a dangerous profession. We put that uniform on every day not knowing what we may come into.”

Knock said it’s important to acknowledge not only the day-to-day service, but most especially those who made supreme sacrifices.

“Enrollment and our ranks are at an all-time low,” he said. “Not everyone wants to be a policeman anymore so it’s important to acknowledge the brotherhood, especially those who have passed from it.

“So to recognize the acts of Trooper Melley and to keep his memory alive, it’s an honor we need to do and not take lightly.”

Meanwhile, Szczecina pointed out there were 12 state police troopers who died through his 25 years of service.

As for them, and especially Melley, he said, “I want to make sure they’re not going to be forgotten, and will always go out of the way and do whatever I can to make sure they are remembered.”

About Phillip C. Melley

Phillip C. Melley was born Dec. 20, 1915, at Summit Hill, and enlisted in the Pennsylvania State Police, where he was assigned to Troop C-4, Reading. He died in the line of duty in 1957 at the age of 41.

On Nov. 3 of that year, state troopers Thomas McCann and John Devine, and Irwin DeHaven, a Douglass Township police officer, were detailed to take into custody 16-year-old William Henderson in a wooded area of Berks County.

Henderson was armed and had threatened to kill his father. Henderson got the jump on the trio of officers and held them captive in a wooded area near Boyertown, after which Melley was dispatched to assist.

The trooper found the teenager holding the other officers at bay with a shotgun. Trying to disarm Henderson, Melley slipped and fell to the ground. Henderson fired his shotgun, killing Melley instantly. He then dropped the shotgun and surrendered to the police.

The 20-year veteran trooper is buried in Saint Joseph’s Catholic Cemetery, White Bear, Summit Hill.

The Pennsylvania State Troopers Association’s Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 65 is named in memory of Melley, as is the Summit Hill Little League Field.

Every year on May 2, in conjunction with then Pennsylvania Gov. Samuel Pennypacker’s establishment of the state police in 1905, when it became the first uniformed police agency of its kind in the U.S., the commonwealth’s historic law enforcement agency pauses to celebrate and honor the brave men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty.