Tree remembers late deputy's legacy

PERKINS TWP. — A new tree helps remember the life and legacy of Michael "Mike" Capizzi, a late local law enforcement officer. The Erie County Sheriff's Office provided some background and insight into his life and this renewed tribute: Michael "Mike" Capizzi was an Erie County deputy sheriff who served the citizens of Erie County as a patrol deputy and as a detective sergeant from 1974 until 1986 when he transferred to a position as a reserve deputy sheriff and as the investigator for the Erie County prosecutor's office. Mike died as the result of a tragic auto-pedestrian accident that occurred in 1987 near the Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy at London, Ohio, where he was attending a training session. He is survived by his wife, Gloria, and his sons, Chris and Keith. Both sons followed in their dad's law enforcement footsteps: • Chris was employed as an Erie County deputy sheriff and as a trooper with the Ohio State Highway Patrol, the agency that he retired from a few years ago. • Keith has served as a reserve officer with the Sandusky Police Department and, along with his teaching career at Sandusky High School, he is also employed as a security officer at NASA Plum Brook/NASA Neil A. Armstrong Test Facility. Shortly after the completion of the construction of the current Erie County Sheriff's Office and county jail on Columbus Avenue, a tree was planted in Mike's memory by his Sherwood cousins — with whom he had a special bond — and a stone marker was set at the base of the tree. Recently, the Capizzi family — along with Corso's Flower and Garden Center and the Erie County facilities department — collaborated with the sheriff's office to plant a new tree in Mike's memory and to place a new memorial stone at its base. We are very thankful to the family for their contributions to this effort, and we are honored to be entrusted by them to maintain this memorial to Mike. He will not be forgotten.