John J. Schilling Jr., Phila. officer

John J. Schilling Jr., who served as a Philadelphia police officer for 24 years, was the second generation of a three-generation family of police officers, his son, Ken, said.

"His father was a police officer in Philly - John J. Sr. - in the traffic division," Ken Schilling said.

John J. Jr. was a Philadelphia police officer from April 1956 to June 1980, a police spokeswoman said.

Ken Schilling said he is a detective with the Egg Harbor Police Department and his brother, John, is "a sergeant first class in the New Jersey State Police."

On Thursday, Nov. 13, John J. Schilling Jr., 82, of Little Egg Harbor, N.J., died of kidney failure at Southern Ocean Medical Center in Manahawkin, N.J.

Born in South Philadelphia, Mr. Schilling attended Bartram High School and served in an Army transportation unit in South Korea during the conflict there.

"He was where all the ships came in," Ken said, and so his job was "to load and unload the ships."

With the Philadelphia Police Department, his son said, Mr. Schilling was for 12 to 15 years a detective in a gang control unit of the Juvenile Aid Division in South Philadelphia.

"He loved being a police officer," Ken said. "He always talked about it," enough to encourage his sons "to follow in his footsteps."

After retiring from the Philadelphia force, Mr. Schilling worked as a security officer for a while at Harrah's Atlantic City, before working as a security supervisor at the Trump Plaza until the early 2000s.

He was a member of the Fraternal Order of Police lodge in Philadelphia, the American Legion, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, and the Church of St. Theresa in Little Egg Harbor.

Besides his sons, Mr. Schilling is survived by his wife, Emily; a brother; and five grandchildren.

A visitation was set from 9 a.m. to noon Thursday, Nov. 20, at the Wood Funeral Home, 134 E. Main St., Tuckerton, N.J., before a noon funeral service there, with burial in Brig. Gen. William C. Doyle Memorial Cemetery, Wrightstown.

Donations may be sent to the Alzheimer's Association at www.alz.org/delval.

Condolences may be offered to the family at www.woodfuneralhomeinc.com.