• • •
Wersinger relished the opportunity to meet with Klemmer’s kin at the area where the policeman was shot. She also learned that the shooting most likely took place at a different location than initially believed — not Five Points but rather, the area of Martins Mill Road and Rising Sun and Unruh avenues, which may have then been considered "Five Points" back in those days.
"It’s funny how things change over the ages," Wersinger told Carl Klemmer while surveying the area.
Carl said he learned about the actual shooting location after talking to his aunt, Ruth Shelton, Klemmer’s only surviving child. And Shelton should know.
"(She’s) eighty-eight and sharp as a tack," Carl said of his aunt, who lives in Perkasie, Bucks County.
Klemmer’s other child, Carl G.C. Klemmer Sr., was Carl’s dad. He died last October at age 90 after battling Alzheimer’s disease.
During her research, Wersinger ran into a snag. She learned that getting Klemmer’s name on the list for a plaque dedication may be more difficult than initially expected. The reason — the city of Philadelphia doesn’t recognize Klemmer as having been killed in the line of duty, even though he died from complications related to the bullets that were in his body, she claims.
Wersinger said both the National Law Enforcement Association and the Fraternal Order of Police consider Klemmer a police casualty, but the city has not accepted this designation. So now, Wersinger finds herself in the middle of another task — getting Klemmer recognized as having been killed in the line of duty so he can legitimately receive a plaque.
"It’s not impossible to have that changed," Wersinger told Carl, who recently learned of the latest development for the first time.
• • •
Lt. Tom Macartney of the 2nd Police District, who joined in on the gathering, said when dealing with a killed-in-the-line-of-duty designation, criteria vary depending on the issuing authority. For instance, federal standards may differ from local ones.
"It’s very cloudy," Macartney said.
Nevertheless, those involved in the process just want to see it done so they can pave the way for a Klemmer memorial plaque.
"This is just the right thing to do," said Bill Dolbow, the Democratic leader of the 35th Ward who also took part in the meeting.
Because of the discrepancy with the designation, Klemmer’s badge number — 2715 — was never officially retired. Macartney said the number is worn by an officer today. Usually, a badge number is retired after an officer is killed on duty. Sometimes, the numbers are passed down to a relative on the force, such as a son or daughter who wants to display the badge number of their slain father or mother out of respect.
Recently, Carl proudly showed off his grandfather’s wooden nightstick, badge and blackjack at the gathering spot. Macartney and John Paluba, a friend of Carl’s, took particular interest in the antique items, since both are self-described history buffs.
"It’s really neat," Macartney said of the story that has developed out of Wersinger’s quest to honor Klemmer.
Holding the blackjack — a defensive tool made of solid lead wrapped in leather, and small enough to conceal — Macartney thought about how close an officer would have to get to someone to use the weapon, since it only measures around 7 or 8 inches. Macartney said the blackjack was discontinued as part of an officer’s uniform when John Timoney was police commissioner.
• • •
While Klemmer died a middle-aged man, his son, Carl’s father, lived a long and healthy life. Carl Gottlob Christopher Klemmer was just 10 years old when his father died. His sister Ruth was 7.
"Great family. Very nice people," Paluba, Carl Jr.’s friend, said of the Klemmer family, Carl Sr. in particular.
Paluba grew to know Carl Sr. as a man who was very good at what he did, which was machine building and repairs. He opened his own shop, Carl G.C. Klemmer Inc., around 1940. Then came World War II; he served with the U.S. Navy.
"He was very proud of his service," Paluba said. "He talked about it often."
The shop, located at 4401 North Philip St. in Feltonville, still exists, and is run by Carl Jr. Paluba started out as a business associate but soon befriended the Klemmers.
"He (Carl Jr.) and his dad could make anything, and they did," Paluba said. "They were always not just talented, but very nice people."
It is not known why Carl Sr. opted to go into his line of work and not follow in his father’s footsteps as far as law enforcement as a career choice, but Carl Jr. has a pretty good idea why things turned out the way they did.
"I don’t know whether my grandmother would have let him," go into police work, Carl Jr. said with a laugh.
Carl Jr. said his father was in decent shape up until the time he developed Alzheimer’s. In fact, he said he would often take his dad to work with him at the shop since he liked to spend time there, even after retirement.
"Finally, he was getting too unsteady, and a four-wheeled walker didn’t do too well around a machine shop," Carl Jr. said jokingly.
Carl Jr. said he learned a little bit about his grandfather while he was growing up. He and his dad would occasionally visit Klemmer’s grave at the Hillside Cemetery in Roslyn, not far from where Carl Jr. lives today.
As for the anticipated plaque dedication, Wersinger stressed the importance of having Klemmer recognized by the city as having been killed in the line of duty. She wants the plaque to be unveiled as soon as possible. Even though Carl Sr. died last year, Klemmer’s daughter is still alive, although she is approaching 90.
"We’d like as many people in the family to be here when we get it done," she said.
• • •
Michael Lutz, vice president of the Fraternal Order of Police, Philadelphia Lodge 5, said getting Klemmer’s death recognized as a work-related killing could prove difficult. He’s not sure whether the police department has the "necessary documentation to determine whether he was killed in the line of duty."
The reason may be that the records of scores of officers were forever lost after police department officials in the 1980s ordered their destruction, according to police officer Roderick "Scratch" Scratchard.
Scratchard, the department’s graphic artist and its unofficial historian, previously told the Times that the files were trashed simply because of the clutter factor.
However, a copy of a transcript from the Philadelphia Police roster book, found at the city’s Department of Records, lists Klemmer’s cause of death as "effects of gunshot wounds while on duty January 1919."
Klemmer’s official death certificate, which would list a manner of death, could not be obtained, since such documents are not public records in the commonwealth, according to Jeff Moran, a spokesman for the city medical examiner’s office.
But all hope is not lost. In a case similar to Klemmer’s, former Philadelphia police officer Walter Barclay died in 2007, more than 40 years after he was shot by an assailant. Barclay, who was shot in the spine and paralyzed from the waist down, died from a urinary-tract infection and sepsis, which the medical examiner determined were direct complications from the 1966 shooting.
The death was labeled a homicide, and though it came 40 years later, Barclay was recognized as having been killed in the line of duty. A plaque dedication for Barclay is scheduled for Nov. 26. ••
Reporter Jon Campisi can be reached at 215-354-3038 or jcampisi@phillynews.com