By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
Although it has been 31 years since the tragic death of her husband, Officer Michael P. “Mickey” Cullinane Sr., the pain and sorrow remain with Stacy Spiegel.
“It never goes away,” she said, softly. “You always think about him every day.”
The couple had been married for only one year and eight months when Cullinane died on Aug. 26, 1992, while trying to rescue a construction worker who had fallen into a pit filled with toxic gases. To this day, he remains the only police officer in Sea Isle City ever killed in the line of duty.
On the 31st anniversary of Cullinane’s death, Stacy Spiegel and other members of the family gathered Saturday morning at a memorial on the same spot where Cullinane was killed. City officials, current and former Sea Isle police officers and other first responders were also part of the community ceremony that honored Cullinane’s heroism.
“Mickey was one of a kind,” Mayor Leonard Desiderio said. “He was a cop’s cop, and he was a hero for us in Sea Isle City.”
Desiderio spoke of the dangers constantly facing police officers as they perform their duties every day – and the grim fact that some of them, just like Mickey Cullinane – may be killed while protecting the public.
“Police officers must constantly face the unknown – whether that unknown is a vehicle that you just pulled over for a traffic violation, the front door of a home that you are about to knock on following a 9-1-1 call, or, as in Michael’s case, a deep construction pit that is filled with toxic gases,” Desiderio said.
On Aug. 26, 1992, Cullinane was overcome by lethal gases while rescuing a construction worker from a nearly 30-foot-deep pit being dug on Landis Avenue at 26th Street in Sea Isle as part of a sewage pumping station.
Cullinane had saved another worker who had fallen into the same construction pit the day before, then returned on Aug. 26 for another rescue attempt that claimed his life.
The toxic gas injured two other police officers and sent a total of 38 people, including five workers and some Sea Isle residents, to a nearby hospital, according to a story published Aug. 27, 1992, in The New York Times.
Capt. Steve Conte, the second-highest ranking officer in the Sea Isle City Police Department, said he was only 12 years old when Cullinane died. Yet as a member of the police department now, Conte described the bond that he and other current and former Sea Isle officers have with Cullinane.
“We will never forget Mickey’s sacrifice,” Conte said.
Conte noted that while Cullinane was an officer with a small-town police department, his bravery made him known “across the nation.”
Desiderio and Conte both stressed that Sea Isle will always honor Cullinane’s memory.
The ceremony also included a blessing by Pastor Melissa Doyle-Waid of the United Methodist Church in Sea Isle.
“God, we praise you for Mickey and for his contributions,” Doyle-Waid said in prayer.
Once little more than a dumping ground, the former construction site where Cullinane died has since been transformed into a landscaped memorial honoring Cullinane and other fallen police officers across the country.
The memorial was created in 2015 by Boy Scout Ben Jargowsky for his Eagle Scout project. Ben Jargowsky is the son of Mike Jargowsky, a retired Sea Isle police captain who now serves as the city’s emergency management coordinator.
Ben Jargowsky, now 26, is currently earning his doctorate in particle physics at the University of California at Irvine.
In addition to the memorial at the intersection of 26th and Landis, there are other honors and remembrances of the late officer in Sea Isle. They include a street sign at 26th and Landis bearing Cullinane’s name. The lobby of Sea Isle’s police headquarters in City Hall is named in Cullinane’s memory.
“But even though he is gone, he is not forgotten, because Michael Cullinane will always be a hero in Sea Isle City and we will always honor his memory,” Desiderio said.
Stacy Spiegel, now 54, was only 23 when her 30-year-old husband was killed. Among the members of Cullinane’s family who were devastated by his death was his son, Michael Jr., who was just 4 years old in 1992.
Michael Jr., who now lives in Bloomfield N.J., did not attend the ceremony, but his grandfather, Eddie Rumer, said Michael has been moving on with his life, including his plans to get married this year.
“He sends his love and says thank you,” Rumer said of Michael during brief remarks at the ceremony.
Rob Spiegel, Stacy’s brother, also thanked the city, the police officers and the entire community for honoring his brother-in-law each year with a memorial ceremony.
“It’s so heartwarming to see you here,” he said to the crowd. “It means so much to his family and his memory.”
Rob Spiegel concluded his remarks by saying that “Michael’s legacy will live on.”
“We will always remember him as our hero,” he said.
Cullinane’s sisters, Jeanne Santucci and Maura Fernandez, were also among the family members at the ceremony.
Santucci said the family gains great comfort by visiting the memorial in tribute to her brother.
“We miss him so much every day,” she said.
