Ladislaus Roger Piwowarski, HPD reserve officer for 51 years

By Rod Ohira
Advertiser Staff Writer

Ladislaus Roger Piwowarski retired in March 2002 with nearly 44,000 hours of volunteer service to the Honolulu Police Department as a reserve officer for 51 years. He died Wednesday at age 85.

His son, Dennis Piwowarski of Arlington, Va., said his father would have become a police officer if he didn't have a better paying full-time job.

"He was a very selfless person who had a burning desire to do public service," Dennis Piwowarski said. "Volunteer work was the underlying theme in his life."

Roger Piwowarski, a Waikiki resident, became an HPD reserve officer in November 1950. He was twice honored as the department's Reserve Officer of the Year, the last time in 2000. In 1981, Piwowarski helped to found what is now called the Evening Counseling Program for first-time juvenile offenders.

"What made him special," retired HPD lieutenant Bernie Campbell said, "was that he gave so much time for so many years. You had to be inspired by that if you knew him."

A native of Newark, N.J., Piwowarski was a Pearl Harbor survivor who settled in Hawai'i after World War II. He worked for Standard Oil and Castle & Cooke, but retired as a claims adjuster for Matson Navigation.

Piwowarski was also an active volunteer at various Catholic churches on O'ahu, most notably as a eucharistic minister at Sts. Peter & Paul Church.

"I think his volunteer work speaks volumes of his sense of public awareness and duty," Dennis Piwowarski said.

In addition to his son, Piwowarski is survived by daughter Cecilia "Cissy" Carter and a granddaughter.

Visitation is 8:15 to 9 a.m. tomorrow at Sts. Peter & Paul Church; Mass 9 a.m. Burial 11 a.m. at Hawaiian Memorial Park. Aloha attire.

Reach Rod Ohira at 535-8181 or rohira@honoluluadvertiser.com.