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NANTICOKE — Police officers and officials from across the county came to honor William Shultz, the Nanticoke police chief from 2012 until his death on Aug. 17, Friday at a memorial service at the Greater Nanticoke High School auditorium.
Officers from neighboring Newport Township to Dallas Township turned out to honor a man many knew as an advocate and friend.
Nanticoke Mayor Richard Wiatrowski said Shultz, who died at the age of 61, was “private man who devoted his life to being a police officer.”
A slideshow of memories was shown as Shultz’s wife, Anne Marie, and family stood by a photo of the late chief.
During the service, several speakers commemorated the life of a man many called dedicated. At the end of the service, members of nearly 15 agencies processed through the streets of Nanticoke to the Nanticoke fire station, where Nanticoke and Hanover Township ladder trucks held a flag for the last call.
“I consider him a dear friend,” a visibly upset Luzerne County District Attorney Stefanie Salavantis said, remembering her time working on cases with Shultz. “He was one of the first law enforcement (officers) who came to me.”
Salavantis said Shultz went through “deceit, lies, harm and death” daily. She also mentioned that Shultz, though private, would want the couple dozen civilians and multiple law enforcement officers on hand to “celebrate and carry on the fight.”
A fight that began in the 1980s when Shultz was called to be on the state attorney general’s Mid Valley Task Force. He was police chief of Plymouth Township at the time.
He was then hired by the Nanticoke Police Department in 1990 and appointed chief in August 2012.
According to Nanticoke’s Municipal Police Cooperative Agreement, the Mid Valley Task Force enhances the coordination of drug investigations in the Luzerne County area and provides mutual police aid to more effectively enforce the provisions of narcotics and drug laws, preserving the safety and welfare of the entire area.
Hanover Township Police Chief Albert Walker said Shultz was a “giant in local law enforcement” because of his longevity in the profession — over 40 years — and his dedication.
“I had the pleasure to work side by side with him on cases that overlapped our jurisdictions, and he was a wealth of information,” Walker said.
Not only did law enforcement officers attend the service but area lawmakers were also on hand.
State Sen. John T. Yudichak, D-Plymouth Township, and State Rep. Gerald J. Mullery, D-Newport Township, spoke during the service. They both hold a connection with Shultz as they grew up in Plymouth Township, while the late leader was the top cop there.
Yudichak told a story of Shultz pulling him over on Route 11, and Mullery talked of life lessons.
“The chief taught me there are consequences for my actions,” Mullery said, recalling a time when he was growing up and broke some glass. The chief spoke to Mullery’s mother and then made the now-state representative and friends shovel out a snow filled gravel lot.
Former Wilkes-Barre police chief and current Mayor Tony George spoke of a time in the police academy, which is when he met a then-Sargent William Shultz.
“Everyone is replaceable,” George said, “except William Shultz.”
