POUGHKEEPSIE – Dozens of Hudson Valley residents will take a moment tomorrow (Wednesday) to pause and reflect on a true hero—the late Detective John Falcone, who was shot and killed by a crazed gunman who had murdered his wife before taking his own life outside the Poughkeepsie Railroad Station on February 18, 2011.
Falcone, 44, was a Poughkeepsie police officer who responded to the domestic violence call and never returned home.
Falcone grew up in Carmel and served for a time with the Carmel and Kent Police Departments as well as the Putnam Sheriff’s Department before transferring to the Dutchess County force.
John Falcone Sr., the officer’s father, remembered his son as “one of the most exceptional people I have ever known. From the day he was born, John was a good baby. He never cried and was always a wonderful kid. John always loved the law enforcement field and joined the Sheriff’s Cadets at the age of 12. He served until the age of 18 and under the supervision of another great man, the late Charlie Moore, who became John’s mentor, guided him.”
The elder John Falcone recalled how his son stood guard for three days over the coffin containing the remains of the late Putnam Sheriff Raynor Weizenecker which lay in state at the George Fischer Middle School.
The younger Falcone also parked cars at Salingers Orchards during his spare time in order to as is father recalled “keep shoppers safe.”
Falcone Sr. remembered how his son loved the elderly. It was that desire to help seniors that attributed to his untimely death.
While employed in Poughkeepsie, Detective Falcone befriended an elderly gentleman with an emotional problem who John Sr. said, “kept on observing Martians. John went to the gentleman’s home and calmed him down. John even gave the man his personal phone number telling him if he ever wanted to talk to call. That number remained in John’s phone for years.
On the morning of his death, John received a call from the man asking him to stop by since he was having nightmares. When John arrived, he received a radio call that a man had killed his wife nearby. John immediately left and went to the scene even though it was not his call. That was my John—always willing to help another person. He lost his life because of his desire to help others.”
The elder Falcone forecast: “Our son’s legacy will live on.”
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