Slain officer Joseph Kelly
honored with a plaque

By Tom Waring
Times Staff Writer

Jerry and Gloria Iannuzzi remember building a house in Roxborough back in 1970 when the 200 block of Paoli Ave. was a country lane.
The Iannuzzi family, which included 4-year-old Jerry Jr., moved into 271 Paoli Ave. in January 1971. The only other house on the block was occupied by Jerry Iannuzzi’s parents.
Police Officer Joseph Kelly was a familiar fixture when the houses were being built and after the families moved in. The 5th Police District officer patrolled the block and became friendly with the Iannuzzi clan.
Kelly knew that Jerry and Gloria Iannuzzi always parked their Pontiac LeMans in the driveway.
So, when he saw the vehicle parked on the street as he worked a last-out shift on Sunday, Feb. 21, 1971, he took special notice.
During a second ride by the street at about 2:50 a.m., he saw that the car had been moved, so he took action.
The 16-year police veteran saw a man later identified as Joseph "Jo Jo" Bowen trying to steal the car. The officer and the thief exchanged gunfire, and Kelly suffered two gunshot wounds to the chest.
The Iannuzzis, who moved their car because their driveway was about to be paved, rushed outside to help Kelly as he lay in patrol car 510, but it was too late. He had been murdered.
"He was a gentleman and a dedicated officer, and he did his job well," Gloria Iannuzzi said.
Kelly, 44, was an upstate Pennsylvania native who lived at 625 E. Godfrey Ave. in Lawndale. He left a wife and five daughters, ages 6 to 16.
Last week, his family — which has grown to include 10 grandchildren and one great-grandchild — returned to 271 Paoli Ave. for a plaque dedication ceremony in his memory.
The plaque is placed in the ground in the driveway of the home where the Iannuzzis still live. Below it was a picture of Kelly’s Police Academy graduating class standing in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
The Iannuzzi family was more than willing to have the plaque installed on their property because of Kelly’s sacrifice and their support for the police.
"I pray every night that God blesses all of our officers," Gloria Iannuzzi said.
The plaque dedication was the 51st. Philadelphia attorney Jimmy Binns, who spearheads the effort, said all 276 Philadelphia police officers killed in the line of duty will be so honored.
The fire department cleaned the street, the cement masons union installed the plaque, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 98 catered the event and Union Roofing supplied a limousine to transport the family to and from the site. The sponsors of the plaque were Common Pleas Court Judge James Murray Lynn and attorney Frederick Santarelli.
Binns is grateful for everyone who helps make the ceremony an appropriate and memorable event for the family without expecting anything in return.
"They wouldn’t accept a glass of water for it," he said.
Sarah Kelly, the officer’s widow, attended with her daughters Annamarie Negler, Eileen Barclay, Patricia Plizak, Sally Cojocariu and Joanne Panas.
They appreciated having their loved one remembered after more than 37 years.
The ceremony featured a bugler, the police department honor guard and the Philadelphia Police and Fire Pipes and Drums band. The current 510 car sat across the street.
Monsignor Michael McCulken blessed the ground. Deputy Police Commissioner Richard Ross presented Mrs. Kelly with a pillow that included the words inscribed on the plaque.
WOGL (98.1 FM) personality Bob Pantano was the master of ceremonies.
"It was sad, but wonderful," Sarah Kelly said. "My girls said we had to celebrate."
The gun that killed Kelly was recovered at the scene and linked to Bowen, who had just been released from prison a week earlier.
After the murder, he ran up Paoli Avenue and hid in the trunk of a car at a nearby auto repair shop as police launched an all-out search. Before the shop opened for business on Monday morning, Bowen drove from the scene. Police pursued him by car and on foot before apprehending him.
Bowen’s life of crime was far from over.
On May 31, 1973, angry about alleged religious persecution of Muslims at Holmesburg Prison, Bowen and fellow Black Liberation Army member Fred Muhammad Burton scheduled a meeting with warden Patrick Curran and deputy warden Robert Fromhold. The two inmates stabbed the two wardens and a guard, killing Curran and Fromhold.
In 1981, Bowen tried to scale a 40-foot wall to escape from Graterford Prison. That attempt was thwarted, but he and six other inmates captured three guards and three kitchen employees. Armed with guns, they engaged in a standoff for five days.
Today, Bowen is an inmate at the State Correctional Institution at Coal Township. Because of Bowen’s actions, Sarah Kelly had to raise five children alone. The family did as well as could be expected.
"They were good kids. I had no trouble with them," said Mrs. Kelly, a native of Galway, Ireland, who lives in Fox Chase.
Still, the girls grew up without their father.
"He was a great husband and great father," his widow recalled. "He loved his job and loved his kids and made sure they all went to church (at St. William)."
One of those daughters, Eileen, fondly recalled weeks spent at the Jersey shore and trips to a lake. Her father attended his daughters’ Irish dances and liked to sing Irish songs. On his days off, he insisted that his wife relax.
At the same time, she lamented the fact that her father missed his daughters’ graduations and weddings. She was cheered to learn that the Iannuzzis comforted him as he lay dying.
"That means a lot to us," she said.
Eileen Kelly Barclay added that her family has a bond with the surviving family members of other slain officers.
"They are not alone," she said.
Bob Ballentine, financial secretary for Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5, said Bowen "cowardly" ambushed Kelly.
Ballentine told the Kellys that they would always be part of the FOP and police department families, adding that police officer Joseph Kelly’s heroism will not be forgotten.
"He’s just out of service here at 271 Paoli Avenue," he said. ••