Villagers cheer and wave when Village of Pine Ridge resident Pete Schwarz Sr. turns on the flashing red police lights and drives his golf cart in parades or shows up at events in The Villages squares.
Pete’s cart is tricked out as a Union, N.J. ‘black and white,’ complete with rooftop light bar, but the grin on his face assures everyone that no arrests will be made today.
Pete spent 13 years with the police department in the ocean-front town of Berkeley, N.J. and then the city of Union, N.J. both as uniformed officer and as a juvenile and adult detective. He even spent some time as “Officer Friendly” visiting schools and youth organizations, often with a police dog as a companion.
Following high school graduation in 1966, Pete and some of his buddies decided to enlist in the military.
“We went in the front door of the recruiting office as civilians and came out as recruits waiting to be called up. The rest of the guys got their call-up letter, but mine never arrived. I asked my father what to do. He told me to wait,” he said.
After waiting several months Peter took a job with Ford Motor Company and then with the Berkeley police force.
“I was newly married to Bonnie and we had a baby on the way. So, I needed a job,” he explained.
The time in Berkeley was pleasant.
“We had maybe 25 officers and pretty soon I knew almost everyone in the town,” he said.
The move to Union, next door to Newark and Elizabeth City, meant that police work was very different.
“I moved to the Union department in 1982 when carjacking and bump-and-rob were at their height. One year Union had the highest rate of auto theft in the state,” he said.
Pete was an investigating officer on a 1974 school bus accident where a kindergartener was killed.
“The child left the bus, ran up a driveway and then turned and ran back down in front of the bus. The driver didn’t see her,” he said.
His report eventually led New Jersey officials to mandate use of the school bus crossing arm – a swinging bar that extends in front of the stopped bus forcing children to cross several feet ahead of the vehicle where they can be more easily seen by the driver.
One of the stranger incidents Pete recalls was when the Berkeley Volunteer Fire Department got a new ladder truck.
“The fire was at a plant that made church pews, so there was lots of flammables and heat. The driver parked the truck too close to the fire, melting the plastic lights and scorching the paint on the side. They were very embarrassed,” he said.
Proving that the life of a police officer is often dangerous, Pete was involved in a chase through several New Jersey localities following a suspected stalker. The suspect pulled into an abandoned gas station and Pete, thinking the pursuit was over, got out of his cruiser. Suddenly he heard a gunshot and realized that the stalker had opened fire – on him. The bullets missed, the shooter was caught and eventually received an 18-year sentence.
In 1994 Pete retired.
He and Bonnie moved to Wilmington, N.C. where he ran a marine construction business for a while and then took on the job as building and maintenance manager of the local hockey rink. As a lifelong fan of the New York Rangers and defensive player, Pete was in his element.
“It was a great place to be. My son, Pete, Jr., ran the pro shop. I drove the Zamboni. And we both played hockey,” he said.
In 2009 tragedy struck when Bonnie passed away from breast cancer. Pete reassessed his life and circumstances eventually led him to settle in The Villages in September 2016.
“I wanted to be nearer to my daughters, Heather and Michelle, who live in Coral Springs, and my three granddaughters,” he said.
Pete, Jr., stayed in Wilmington where he has been on the police force for the past nine years.
“I’m very proud,” his father says. “He has the same badge number I had,” he said.
In addition to being an avid pickleball player, Pete has also become very involved as a fund raiser for the American Breast Cancer Society and with the Villages Honor Flight (http://villageshonorflight.org/) as a guardian. He will be on Honor Flight M35 on Sept. 6 assisting an 86-year-old Korean War vet during the trip to Washington, DC that includes visits to Arlington Cemetery, the World War II, Viet Nam and Korean War Memorials.
“I’ll be responsible for him throughout the day. Wherever he wants to go – I go, too. I really look on it as an honor to help out,” he said.
In mid-May each year Pete also joins as many as 40,000 other active duty and retired law enforcement officers in D.C. during National Police Week, which includes a candlelight vigil for fallen officers.
Today Pete shares a Villages home with Abigaile, his Maltese Shih Tzu, plays pickleball most days and is looking forward to taking up fishing again. Hockey, though, remains his big love.
“I started playing around 1962 while I was in school and picked it up again when I lived in North Carolina,” he said.
For years he and Bonnie followed the Rangers (and were once photographed holding the Stanley Cup) and later the Carolina Hurricanes.
“One big item on my bucket list is to go to the NHL Winter Classic that’s played outdoors on New Year’s Day. That’s just like how we played hockey when I was a kid in New Jersey.”
John W Prince is a writer and Villages resident. Learn more at www.GoMyStory.com.