As the wheels keep turning,
the generations keep remembering
n BY AMBER RAMUNDO
On April 1, two buses full of 98 family members made their
annual trip to the National Law Enforcement Officers Me-
morial in Washington, D.C. to visit the names of New Jersey
officers who made the ultimate sacrifice. In the shelter of the
bus ride and at the grounds of the Memorial, these families
find the comfort amongst those who know how harrowing it
is – and how important it is – to make sure their loved ones
will never be forgotten.
“Even the people who know you the best don’t understand
a line-of-duty death,” states Lisa Preslar, president of Garden
State COPS. “But you can go to your other survivors and they
get it. They understand that, you know what, yeah it’s five, six
years out, but today I’m really missing my officer and I need
to let it out.”
Not a day goes by that Preslar doesn’t think about her hus-
band William Preslar, a Lakewood Local 71 officer who was
killed in an automobile accident on May 14, 2007. Even after
10 years, viewing her husband’s name on the Memorial wall
reinstates the reality of his sacrifice and the shock that he’s
really gone.
The NJ State PBA once again sponsored this trip that brings
family members to the Memorial, where 20,267 U.S. law en-
forcement officers lost in the line of duty are honored. For
Preslar, the National Law Enforcement Memorial Bus Trip
introduced her to the support that exists among the families
who, like her, lost someone they loved and wondered how
they could ever move forward. In many ways, the trip is a
way to keep the memory alive and honor family members
across the generations.
Never was that more apparent than when Maryellen Gras-
si shared a solemn moment with her three grandchildren
as they stood before the Memorial to view the name of her
husband, Pascal Grassi, whose watch ended in 1973 when he
was hit by a train while clearing hazardous debris from the
Benjamin Franklin Bridge.
The Grassi grandchildren never met their grandfather, a
former Delaware River Port Authority officer and Intercoun-
ties Local 30 member, but as their eyes fixated on his name
Gracie and Julia Preslar
participate in their
family tradition of
taking a photo with
their hands bracketing
the name of their fa-
ther, William J. Preslar,
where it is enshrined
on the wall at National
Law Enforcement Offi-
cers Memorial.
Maryellen Grassi is accompanied by her son and three grandchildren to
trace the name of Pascal Grassi, an Intercounties Local 30 officer who
was lost in the line of duty in 1973.
enshrined at the Memorial, they were able to piece together
the stories they’ve heard with concrete evidence that their
grandfather was a true hero.
“They’re always asking questions about him. They’re like
sponges soaking up every detail,” Grassi confirms. “They
don’t know their grandfather, so it’s special to share that mo-
ment at the wall to keep his memory alive.”
The bond between Pascal Grassi and his grandkids trans-
lated in color onto paper for the way they walked away with
etchings of his name, tracings that may get pinned on a cork-
board or folded into a family memory book to signify their
connection to the man molded in the monument. d
www.njcopsmagazine.com
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