Harold I. Vecander
Harold Vecander, Camden Police Officer
Harold Vecander in uniform
HAROLD ISSAC VECANDER was born in Leetsdale, Pennsylvania on February 27, 1910 to Gustaf Edward and Hilma Vecander, who had come to America from Sweden in 1904 with their two older children, Gustaf Edward Jr. (known in the family as Edward) and Elsa. The elder Vecander worked as a welder. Harold and two older brothers, Walter and Francis were born in Pennsylvania. The Vecander family was still in Leetsdale, which is in Allegheny County in the western part of the state, when the 1910 Census was taken.
By 1916 the Vecander family had come to New Jersey, where daughter Lila was born. When the census was taken in 1920 the family lived at 1122 Cambridge Street in the Cramer Hill section of Camden. The 1929 City Directory shows the family living at 1354 North 29th Street.
On March 1, 1928 Walter Vecander was appointed to the Camden Police Department along with the following men, Francis Guetherman, August Riehm, William Schriver, Edward Shapiro, John V. Wilkie, Earl Wright, Edward Cahill, Marshall Thompson, Stanley Bobiak, Paul Edwards, Leon Feltz, George Getley, Joseph Lack, Thomas Stanton, Otto Toperzer, and Frank Wilmot.
On June 22, 1935 Harold Vecander married Olga Matilda Peterson in Camden. Olga Peterson was the daughter of Arthur and Matilda Peterson; the family lived in the same Cramer Hill neighborhood, at 1039 North 26th Street. A son, Harold Nelson Vecander, arrived on December 24, 1938. The family was blessed with a daughter, Carol, in April of 1941.
Harold Vecander, known to his brother police officers as “Rapp,” joined his older brother on the Camden police department on September 20, 1940. Both brothers were still on the force in January of 1949. Walter Vecander had been promoted to Sergeant by this time.
The 1947 Camden City Directory shows Harold Vecander and his wife Olga living at 1039 North 26th Street in Cramer Hill. Brother Walter had moved across town to Sayrs Avenue, while Francis Vecander, who worked as a meat cutter, had stayed in Cramer Hill, residing at 1208 North 34th Street. Sadly, by 1956 Walter Vecander had died from a stroke.
The Vecander family were living at 1039 North 26th Street as late as 1959. Young Harold and Carol Vecander attended public schools in the neighborhood, Harold graduating from Woodrow Wilson High School in 1956, Carol in 1959.
Carol Vecander wrote of those years in August of 2009: “Thinking of growing up in Camden, with a wonderful family like I had, I realize just how lucky I was. We were pretty much like the Cleavers… Mother and Dad worked on everything together from buying new furniture to vacations.”
Still on active duty in 1961, Harold Vecander retired from the police department in 1965. He went to work at the Garden State Race Track, and later took a job at the Hercules Powder Company in Paulsboro, New Jersey.
On September 6, 1967, Harold and Olga Vecander’s son Harold Nelson Vecander, member of Woodrow Wilson High School’s Class of 1956, passed away. By October of 1970 Harold and Olga Vecander had moved to Haddon Heights, New Jersey. They moved out of Camden County by the fall of 1977, and were living in Waretown, New Jersey, when Olga Vecander passed in 1985. Harold Vecander joined her on May 16, 1988.
Mrs. Kobus to Ask More Cops, Firemen for City Next Year
Camden Courier-Post —
New Appointment Return Forces to 1938 Status; Defense Increases Need
Appointment of 22 patrolmen and 10 firemen by City Commissioner Mary W. Kobus during the past three months has brought the personnel of the public safety department to figures comparable to 1938.
That announcement was made yesterday by Commissioner Kobus, who expressed the hope the city could afford additional members of both departments in the near future “as a safety measure and because of the great national, State and local defense programs, in which we must participate.”
Appointments Listed
The new policemen appointed by Commissioner Kobus were:
Joseph Caputi, 332 Mt. Vernon street; Joseph M. Carroll, 427 Lansdowne avenue; Roland Comerford, 2931 Cramer street; Vincent Conley, 423 Beideman avenue; James Eskridge, 716 North Seventh street; Joseph Hooven, 501 Beideman avenue; Julius Kaunacki, 1183 Sheridan street; William E. Kelly, 55 State street; William F. Large, 729 Mickle street; William H. Neale, 773 Line street; Francis J. Nelson, 720 Penn street; John E. Opfer, 323 North Second street; Cecil H. Picou, 1127 Cooper street; Earl Quinton, 687 Jefferson avenue; Edw. W. Tatem, 565 Mt. Vernon street; Harry Tracy, 2003 Federal street; Harold I. Vecander, 1039 North Twenty-sixth street; John H. Watkins, 2902 Constitution road; Edward Watson, 1048 Haddon avenue; Donald R. Watson, 841 Lois avenue; George T. Weber, 1231 North Thirtieth street; Stanley Zuckowicz, 1157 Thurman street.
The new appointees to the fire department are:
Philip H. Farrow, 529 Newton avenue; Anthony W. Bretschneider, 1621 Louis street; John Gryckiewicz, 810 North Front street; Thomas Winstanley, 329 Bailey street; William Palese, 900 South Fourth street; Anthony Dzinski, 1230 Atlantic avenue; Joseph R. Guarino, 25 Morse street; Martin B. Nelson, 561 Spruce street; William Cleary, 614 Federal street; and Otto Kaiser, 904 North Twenty-sixth street.
Camden Soldier Fined, Car Theft Charged
Camden Courier-Post —
A Camden soldier, charged with larceny and possession of a stolen automobile, today was fined $200 in municipal court by Judge Dzick.
The defendant, Cpl. James Snyder, 20, of 293 Kaighn avenue, pleaded guilty to possession of the vehicle, owned by Louis Miller, 1002 Haddon avenue, but claimed he did not steal it.
He was arrested Saturday night by Sgt. William Yeager and Patrolman Harold Vecander. Snyder is stationed at Walter Reed hospital, Washington, D. C. Police notified Ft. Dix authorities.
Dummy Hurled In Auto’s Path Panics Driver
Camden Courier-Post —
An East Camden youth was under arrest today charged with throwing a life-size dummy of a man out of his moving car directly in front of a second car operated by a woman who later had to be treated for hysteria and shock at Cooper Hospital.
The suspect, Kenneth Pierce, 18, of the 2700 block Tyler ave., was ordered by Municipal Judge Francis Malloy to be held over for a further hearing Tuesday when he reported to the court the identity of two companions.
Judge Malloy ordered the two others arrested and brought to court Tuesday.
The dummy, filled with straw and wearing a man’s gray felt hat, blue jacket and trousers, was thrown into the path of a car operated by Mrs. Bertha Martin, 46, of 3rd st., Atco, on 27th st. near Stevens st.
When her car passed over the dummy, Mrs. Martin became hysterical. Another motorist following the woman’s car gave a description of the first auto to Ptl. Harold Vecander.
Pierce was arrested by Ptl. Daniel Vautier and George Morris at 27th and Sherman sts., about eight blocks from the scene where the dummy was thrown to the street. In court, Pierce gave no explanation for the incident. He was charged with disorderly conduct and ordered held in $25 bond pending the further hearing.
Judge Malloy is sitting in Municipal Court while Judge Sklar is on vacation.
Photos
“This must have been someone picking up my Dad for work. The View is from our house on North 26th Street near Wayne Avenue” — Carol Vecander, 2009