Dave Colucci

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" height=90 BGCOLOR="#006699" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="02c285a1erlcgo.gif"> <div> <FONT SIZE="6" COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Century Schoolbook" ><B>Ashtabula Bicentennial Celebration</B></FONT><FONT SIZE="6" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Century Schoolbook" ><B> </B></FONT><B>   </B></div> <div> <A HREF="Home.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Ashtabula Bicentennial Celebration"><U><B>Home</B></U></A><B>     </B><A HREF="id105.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Biographies"><U><B>Biographies</B></U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" height=390 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="766" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 3605 ><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="5589fd40.jpg" border=0 ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" width="159" height="212"></div> <div> <I><B>David Colucci</B></I></div> <bR> <div> <I><B>_______________________</B></I></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <I><B><IMG SRC="55ab9150.jpg" border=0 ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" width="185" height="277"></B></I></div> <div> <I><B>Dave - 4 years old</B></I></div> <bR> <div> <I><B>_______________________</B></I></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <I><B><IMG SRC="55d9bdb0.jpg" border=0 ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" width="155" height="219"></B></I></div> <div> <I><B>Dave - 6th grade</B></I></div> <bR> <div> <I><B>______________________</B></I></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <I><B><IMG SRC="5439cef0.jpg" border=0 ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" width="156" height="239"></B></I></div> <div> <I><B>Edgwood H S -'70</B></I></div> <div> <I><B><IMG SRC="55f1f260.gif" border=0 width="31" height="38" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></I></div> <bR> <div> <I><B>_______________________</B></I></div> <bR> <div> <I><B><IMG SRC="5679cce0.jpg" border=0 ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" width="156" height="206"></B></I></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <I><B><IMG SRC="5699ec00.jpg" border=0 ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" width="158" height="192"></B></I></div> <bR> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="602"><div> <B>Dave Colucci</B></div> <div> <B>by</B></div> <div> <B>Darrell E. Hamilton</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>               David Michael Colucci was born on January 19, 1952 at the old Ashtabula General Hospital to Robert and  Mina  Drace.  Dave was the smallest of twin boys weighing in at only 2lbs. 14oz. when he was born.  His twin brother,   Dennis,   weighed  more but his lungs were not fully developed and  died shortly after birth. </B></div> <div> <B>               Dave's Mother, Mina Bates was born in Syracuse, New York but moved  to  Zanesville  when she was one year</B><B> old.  After fifteen years in Zanesville, Mina moved to Corry, Pennsylvan</B><B>ia. That's where she meet her future husband,  Robert Drace.  They  both  graduated  Corry  High School in 1944 and moved to Ashtabula the same year. </B></div> <div> <B>              Dave's grandparents,  Alfred and  Mable Bates, owned a grocery store on  Main  Avenue  that  was  located  on  the  northeast  corner  of </B></div> <div> <B> Main and 58th Streets. Before that,  Alfred had owned a service station</B></div> <div> <B>on Main Ave. near West 54th Street. </B></div> <div> <B>               Not long after Dave was born,  Robert  Drace  and  his  Mom were </B></div> <div> <B>divorced. "I never saw my father." Dave stated. Dave's mother was left to fend for herself and two children. </B></div> <div> <B>               A   few  years  down  the  road,  Dave's  mom,  Mina  met  Nicholas Colucci. They were married in 1955  and Nicholas Colucci adopted Dave and his sister Terri in 1961.  Dave  has  a  younger  sister,  Lisa,  who  was born to Nicholas and Mina Colucci. </B></div> <div> <B>               Dave grew up on the east side of Ashtabula on Aberdeen Ave. He grew up as most children did in the fifties and sixties. He had a life size poster of the  Lone  Ranger on his bedroom wall. He had fond memories </B></div> <div> <B>of his dog, Queenie, a Golden Retriever. </B></div> <div> <B>               "It seems like I spent half my childhood  life  in  the  Gulf."  Dave said.  Dave  and  his neighbor  friends played for countless hours in the Gulf  using  their  imaginations as any child  would  in the sixties. They built forts, went fishing, exploring, swung from vines and in the winter time, went  sledding  down  Tannery  Hill.  "Those were the days."  Dave fondly reminisced. </B></div> <div> <B>              Dave's fond memories also stretches  to  Summer  Avenue  where</B></div> <div> <B>his grandparents, Joseph and Edith Colucci lived. He fondly remembers the smell when she would cook spaghetti sauce  with  jars  of  spaghetti sauce all over the kitchen. For a treat, she would give him Lorna Dune cookies or Ritz crackers.</B></div> <div> <B>             Dave attended elementary school at Lincoln Elementary School. One  memory  Dave  would probably like to forget came when he was in second  grade.  "I  broke  my  teaches  arm."  Dave sighed.  "Mrs. Kearney wanted the ball but I didn't want to give it to her. So,  I  threw  it  to one </B></div> <div> <B>of my friends.  She  went to step on it and  then  slipped  and  fell."  Dave said  as  he  shook  his  head.  Dave  could  remember  all of teachers but Chuck  Losely  was  probably  the  most  fondly remembered  teacher  at Lincoln.  By  the  way,  Dave  did  make  it out of second grade that year. </B></div> <div> <B>             Dave  attended  Edgewood  (Braden)  Jr.  High.   Dave  remembers although not so fondly, getting fourteen paddlings in seventh grade. "It wasn't  anything  that  I  did,  I  just  hung  around  the  wrong  crowd."  I wonder  how  many  times  Dave  has  heard  that since joined the police department?</B></div> <div> <B>           Dave  delivered  newspapers  for  the  Star Beacon in his neighbor-hood.  He  can  fondly  remember  getting  tips  and cookies at Christmas time and about five dollars a week spending money. He also remembers, although  not  so  fondly,  delivering  newspapers in the rain, sleet, snow and  people  coming  to   the  door  in anything they were wearing or not wearing.  A few of  the customers rarely came to the door especially when it came time to collect. </B></div> <div> <B>           Dave worked almost all the time he was in high school. He worked for his uncle,  Joe  Rebera  for  a  while  hanging aluminum siding, at the Red Barn and at Eddies Grill at Geneva-On-The-Lake.</B></div> <div> <B>           In 1968, Dave went to work for Jim Weidig at Weidig's Sohio service station  at  the  corner  of   State  Road and Prospect. Dave really enjoyed working for Jim Weidge.  "I have a lot of fond memories working for Jim. I learned a lot there especially when it came to meeting and dealing with people."</B></div> <div> <B>          While Dave was in high school, state patrolmen, deputy sheriffs and an  Ashtabula  City  policeman  used  to come into the station. The names that he recalled were  Robert Pouska,  Michael Dispenza and city patrol-men, Attilla Kranauer whose father had a  Sohio station at interstate  90. The officers that stopped in the station influenced Dave greatly while he was still in high school. </B></div> <div> <B>           In 1970, Dave graduated Edgewood High School. Gas was 36 cents a gallon and Dave owned  a  1967  candy  apple  red  Cougar  XR7.  This car could blind you coming down  the  street  on  a  bright  summer  day. This car   was  Dave's</B><B>  p</B><B>ride  and joy. I know first hand, I worked with Dave at Jim Weidge Sohio in the summer of 1970. </B></div> <div> <B>           Besides me, Gary Deemer, who would become Dave's best man in his wedding,  also  </B><B>worked  for  Jim  Weidge.  The  Rev.  Kenny  Roberts  also worked with D</B><B>ave at Weidig's Sohio. </B></div> <div> <B>          As   I  sat  their  interviewing Dave, I ask him what ever happened to his Cougar. That's when he told me about the stupidest thing, according to him that he ever did. " I loaned the Cougar to a girl  so  she  could pick up her pay check. She rolled it." Dave said while hanging head  down.  "I wish I still had that car." </B></div> <div> <B>         Well, I couldn't imagine that car being rolled. My heart felt for Dave and his car. Later, at home after the interview, I felt even worse.  I forgot to ask Dave what happen to the girl that borrowed Dave's car. </B></div> <div> <B>        While  Dave  worked  at  the  Sohio  station,  he  joined  the  Auxiliary Police Department of Ashtabula in 1973. He also attended justice classes at the Ashtabula Kent State branch to earn an associate degree. In  1975, he went to the Ashtabula Police Academy. </B></div> <div> <B>        In the same year, Dave married Karen Anderson, a 1971 graduate of St. John High School.  They  lived  on  Woodman  Avenue.  On August 19, 1977,  exactly  twenty-five  years  later to the day of this interview,  Dave was sworn in as  a  full  time policeman.  Another  Ashtabula  policeman, Mike Sharkey, a 1969 Ashtabula High School graduate, started about the same time as Dave Colucci.</B></div> <div> <B>       Dave was sworn in at the old municipal building when Cliff McClure was City Manager.  Dave had apparently parked his car in a parking lot behind the municipal building in a no  parking  zone.  Dave,  apparently excited about being sworn in, probably never noticed the sign. After the brief ceremony, Dave came out to find a parking ticket on his car. </B></div> <div> <B>       In  1978,  Dave's parents retired and moved to  Florida.  Dave bought the house and still lives in the same house that he grew up in. </B></div> <div> <B>        In  1983,  Dave  became  the  evidence  officer  and  processed  crime scenes. </B></div> <div> <B>        This is a field he worked in that sparked my curiosity.  I  asked him what were some of his most memorable cases. Because of  limited  space and the fact some cases I can not mentioned at this time, I can not write about all the most memorable cases he worked. </B></div> <div> <B>         As a young man with very little experience  in  this  field  of   work, finding dead people in a house that had been dead a week or more was more than just unpleasant. </B></div> <div> <B>         Going up to a house or apartment of the deceased person that had been dead a while, usually the windows were covered with flies. Going into the house, he had to wear a mask and  rub  Vicks  on  the  mask  or</B></div> <div> <B>place  some  on  his  nose.  Sometimes  the stench   would be so bad that washing  his  uniform   would  not take the stench out. Often, he  would </B></div> <div> <B>have to throw his uniform away. </B></div> <div> <B>          Sometimes he would investigate a burning victim that died in a car. Often, there would only be a shell of a person still clutching the steering wheel . </B></div> <div> <B>          The hardest part of his job in investigating a crime scene would be when a child was involved.  Many  times  there were no crimes involved but Dave's services would be required anyway on a death.</B></div> <div> <B>           Probably  the  biggest  heart  break  in  Dave's  career  was with the death of officer William Glover in 1997. Dave didn't have to say anything to me express to me what he felt. The look in Dave's eyes said everything. Dave added however, "William was a very good man who wanted to make a difference." </B></div> <div> <B>          Of   course  as  in  almost  in  any  job,  you'll  have  the  humorous or unexpected incidents. </B></div> <div> <B>           Dave went to investigate a shooting. What he found was a man who was  contemplating  suicide.  He  wanted to know if it would hurt first so he shot his finger off to see if it would hurt to commit suicide.</B></div> <div> <B>            Another  humorous  incident  was  when  a  lady  was driving down Park  Avenue  and  hit  a  telephone  pole. Now there's nothing humorous about that except that her dog at the time was sitting in her lap. The dog put its paws through the steering wheel and  she  couldn't regain control back from the dog.  Since the dog was not an experienced driver, the dog ran the car into a telephone pole.  I guess I should have ask  Dave who he gave the ticket to, the dog or the lady. </B></div> <div> <B>              In 1987, Dave became a police captain and in 1989 he became Ashtabula's Police Chief. </B></div> <div> <B>              Dave has two sons. Dennis who graduated Edgewood High School in 2002 and Benjamin who attends  Edgewood  High School.  His  mother, Mrs.  Mina Colucci  moved  back to  Ashtabula  after  the  death of  Dave's father, Nick Colucci. </B></div> <div> <B>               Dave will be retiring on  September 15.  He  hopes  to  continue  in the many organizations that he is involved in.  "I  would  like to continue in the public service area." </B></div> <div> <B>               In parting,  Dave  leaves  these  words of advice and wisdom to up and coming policemen. "The  biggest  thing  in  police  work  today is that policemen  have  to  understand that they are part of the community and not above the community.  The  job  should  mean more to you than just a paycheck.  If   you  decide  to  go  into police  work,  there  should be some kind of calling." </B></div> <div> <B>                Dave's   life  experiences  have made Dave the man he is today.He has  been  a  great  police  chief   that will be sadly missed. Although he is retiring  as   Police  Chief,  his  involvement  in  the  community   will still make him a public fixture.  Good luck Dave!</B></div> <div> <B>                  </B></div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B><IMG SRC="57657c10.jpg" border=0 ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" width="215" height="312"></B></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>