A memorial honors the late Edison police officer, Frank J. Papaianni Jr. On Sept. 16, 1971, Frank J. Papaianni Jr. made the ultimate sacrifice in the name of public safety.
The Edison police officer had been dispatched with partner William Gorman to a silent holdup alarm at the First Federal Savings & Loan bank at the Menlo Park Mall around 1:44 p.m. Before the officers were able to get out of their police vehicle, the perpetrator opened fired at them from close range. “Despite being wounded, they valiantly and courageously returned fire, mortally wounding the [suspect],” said Police Chief Thomas Bryan. “When the gun battle was over, the officers were transported to the hospital, where doctors feverishly worked to save their lives.”
Gorman would survive his injuries, but Papaianni, who was shot in the chest, was fatally wounded.
Papaianni, who had joined the department in 1968, was 32 years old. He and his wife, Adeline, had two children and a third on the way. On Sept. 17, local, county and state officials came together with Papaianni’s family — Adeline and grown children Marie, Joanne and Frank, as well as five grandchildren — for a ceremony at Frank J. Papaianni Jr. Memorial Park, where Lake Papaianni was dedicated in the fallen officer’s name. Edison police officers, firefighters and emergency medical responders were on hand for the event, along with Mayor Antonia Ricigliano, state Assemblymen Peter Barnes III and Patrick Diegnan, state Sen. Barbara Buono, Middlesex County Freeholder Charles Tomaro and former police officer George Bandics, who went on to become the deputy chief at the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office and chief of the Middlesex County College Police Department.
“Officer Papaianni was a true hero,” Bryan said. “I remember that day vividly, for I was a very young son of an Edison police officer. I remember my father telling my mother about what had happened and seeing the deep sadness that they felt. At the time, I could only think about the Papaianni family. I am proud and honored to stand before his family. Frank will always be remembered as a noble, courageous hero.”
Bryan presented Papaianni’s badge, No. 55, to Adeline.
“The killing of a police officer shatters the core of our existence,” Bandics said. “I was there that fateful day, and I will never forget the loss of our brother officer. We have to take time to remember that it is the little things that cause undoing, the routine events that turn into tragedies. Think about how many alarms that you have responded to, and how many of those were false alarms … Think about it.
“Police work is a dangerous job,” he went on to say. “We must keep Frank’s memory a living memory. … Thank you, Frank, thank you.”
Barnes said he recalls vividly being a teenager when his father, Peter Barnes Jr., an FBI agent at the time, came home and told the family what had happened.
“My father was one of the first federal law enforcement officers involved,” he said. “I remember standing on Calvert Avenue and Grove Avenue watching officers from all around the tri-state area commemorating and memorializing Officer Papaianni.”
Barnes said it was fitting to name one of the most prominent places in Edison after the fallen officer.
During the ceremony, Diegnan recited a proclamation that U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone had read into the record before the U.S. Congress.
“[Officer Papaianni] put Edison and its residents first that day,” Buono said. “His actions resonate in a special way, because if he did not act in the line of duty, it may have been one of us or one of our loved ones who would have been killed.”
“Frank embodied unparalleled, a sense of duty and heroism,” she added.
Papaianni’s son, Frank, thanked the crowd who came out to commemorate and honor his father.
“My family is very honored to be here remembering my father 40 years later,” he said. “I can tell you that my father would be proud and honored as well.”