Select the pencil to add details. Frank Serpico, 62 passed away on February 21 2022from unexpected Medical complications Even though this illness took him away from this world, his loving heart left a beacon of light for all who knew him Mr. Serpico avoids the city now, but there is a part of him that has never left its station houses. There was no ceremony; according to Serpico, it was simply handed to him over the desk "like a pack of cigarettes". Most of all he loved his family and instilled in them strong values that have served them well. How can anyone not help but to love Frank while in his presence. Born in New Jersey on Oct. 29, 1929, Frank regularly remarked that his birth, while simultaneous with the Great Stock Market Crash, did not cause the event! Michael Armstrong, 86, Dies; Led Knapp Probe of Police Corruption The undaunted whistle-blower whose testimony was the centerpiece of the Knapp Commission hearings, which sparked the biggest shakeup in the history of the department. Mr. Serpico relies on Chinese medicine, herbs and shiatsu. A SIMPLE LIFE Frank Serpico, former police officer, lives in a one-room cabin. You were always a class act taking right after your dad. Search Staten Island obituaries and condolences, hosted by Echovita.com. Family and friends are coming together online to create a special keepsake. When I was a cop, I played many impressive roles, from derelict to a doctor, and my life often depended on my performance., Back then, as he became suspect among fellow officers, Mr. Serpico began spreading the word that he was writing a book, but only as a bluff. I guess I would have to say it would be because if I didn't, who would I be when I listened to a piece of music? Officer Serpico was a shaggy, bearded loner who grew up in Brooklyn, served in the Korean War, joined the police in 1959 and lived in Greenwich Village, a serape-clad bohemian called Paco. Michael Francis Armstrong was born on Dec. 14, 1932, in Manhattan to Joseph and Mary (Cassidy) Armstrong. Serpico was shot in the face during an arrest attempt on February 3, 1971, at 778 Driggs Avenue, in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. You can send your sympathy in the guestbook provided and share it with the family. The patrolman shot in the face during a 1971 drug bust while screaming for backup from his fellow officers, who then failed to immediately call for an ambulance. Being a cop is a vocation or it is nothing at all, and thats what I saw destroyed by the corruption of the New York City Police Department, destroyed for me and for thousands of others like me.. Alexander Serpico, 41, was discovered lying face down in bed in his Wall Street home around 1 p.m. Monday and was pronounced dead a short time later, cops said. It was there he met Marilyn Nordquist, a nurse working in the King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center. I hear from police officers all the time; they contact me, he said. I just wanted to be a cop, and they took it away from me., https://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/24/nyregion/24serpico.html. Instead, he was interviewed in various coffee shops and restaurants where he is a regular in a few small villages north of Hudson, N.Y., just off the Taconic State Parkway. Frank was like a second dad for me growing up in the neighborhood and knew how to keep it fun. Frank Serpico testifying before the Knapp Commission. I felt that finally I was going to tell the world and nobodys going to interrupt me, Serpico told the newspaper, speaking from his home in upstate New York. You have funeral questions, we have answers. Condolences to Jeanie and family. These emails will be delivered only when there is breaking news deemed important enough to be sent out immediately on an as-needed basis. Posted by 20 days ago. There was an error processing your request. During his years in Europe, Mr. Serpico bought a farm in the Netherlands and married a Dutch woman with two young children. Frank Serpico writes out the story of his life daily in longhand, at the cabin, then types the pages on a computer at the public library, using the two-finger method he honed filing arrest reports on station house typewriters, gathering the pages in a manila folder.