THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, June 2, 1995 TAG: 9506020530
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JON FRANK, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: HAMPTON LENGTH: Medium: 78 lines
The dedication of Honor Park on Thursday brought back a rush of memories, mostly unpleasant ones, for Jim Fronkier.
For most of the hundreds who attended the ceremony, it was a bittersweet morning that honored three Hampton Police officers - Ralph Ghivizzani, Mark DeCuypere and Kenny Wallace - all killed in the line of duty.
But for Fronkier, a detective with the Hampton Police Department, the ceremony forced him to recall a day in 1975 when his own life almost ended. It also was a day that forever put him in the midst of the DeCuypere family.
``Jim Fronkier is my hero,'' said Carol DeCuypere, Mark's 64-year-old mother.
``At least I was able to be an instrument helping the DeCuyperes to deal with the tragedy,'' said Fronkier.
Memories came rushing back to Fronkier, a 48-year-old ex-Marine, as he stood in front of DeCuypere's bust. Fronkier realized again that if their roles were reversed 20 years ago, he would be the one memorialized, and DeCuypere might be giving interviews.
Fronkier answered a call on May 27, 1975, that a man had just killed his wife near the intersection of Aberdeen Road and Industrial Park Drive. The same call was answered by DeCuypere, a 22-year-old police officer.
Before Fronkier could reach the scene of the crime, DeCuypere arrived and was shot and killed by the man who used a sawed-off shotgun.
As Fronkier pulled up in his police cruiser, he saw the suspect, peering from behind a bush in the front yard of a residence. He still had the shotgun, and he was pointing it at Fronkier.
Fronkier could not reach his own gun, so he slipped as far down as he could. Then he heard the shotgun blast and felt shotgun pellets pepper his back, rip a gash in his forearm and blow the back window out of the police cruiser. Strangely, Fronkier was relieved to hear the shotgun.
``Then I knew he wouldn't come over, stick the barrel of the gun into my car and fire into my head,'' Fronkier explained Thursday.
It gave Fronkier time to grab his own shotgun, get out of the car and aim as DeCuypere's murderer struggled to get another shotgun shell into his gun's chamber. But as Fronkier pulled the trigger, all he heard was a click. His shotgun had misfired.
``That was a sickening feeling,'' Fronkier recalled. ``When I heard that metal against metal and no blast.''
Fortunately, a Hampton paramedic who had also answered the call for help had recovered DeCuypere's sidearm and began firing at the suspect. Although his shot failed to hit the man, the paramedic was able to force the suspect to run for cover. Before he could reach the house, Fronkier was able to chamber another shell. He fired, hiting the man in the chest and killing him instantly.
``I've had a lot of trouble with survivor guilt,'' said a tearful Fronkier, who explained he also saw friends and comrades die during his years of service in Vietnam. ``But at least with the DeCuypere family, I can look them in the eye, knowing that I killed their relative's murderer.''
Of those honored Thursday, Wallace was the most recent victim, falling to a gunman Feb. 21, 1994, as he sat in his police cruiser. Ghivizzani died from gunshot wounds in 1943 when he answered a call concerning a man who had threatened to kill his wife.
All three were remembered with bronze busts mounted on monuments of Georgia granite in a park situated between City Hall and police headquarters in downtown Hampton. The park was dedicated with speeches by Sen. Hunter Andrews and Hampton Police Chief Pat Minetti, among others. ILLUSTRATION: Color staff photo by Beth Bergman
Carol DeCuypere strokes the bust of her son Mark, a Hampton Police
officer killed in 1975. Deputy Marina D'Elia, who worked with Mark,
is at right.
Michael DeCuypere, whose brother Mark was honored in park dedication
ceremonies Thursday, sits with their mother Carol.
KEYWORDS: POLICE OFFICER KILLED IN THE LINE OF DUTY MEMORIAL by CNB