Camden People - Wilfred L. Dube

WILFRED L. DUBE was born in New York on July 17, 1906, one of at least five children born to Frank and Amanda Dube. Frank Dube was a machinist who had brought his family to New York from one of the English speaking provinces of Canada in 1892. Besides Wilfred there were four older children living at home in Schenectady NY when the census was taken in 1910, Albert, Alberta, Neal, and Alma. Sadly, Amanda Dube passed away before 1920, and in January of 1920 Wilfred Dube was in foster care, living at 612-1/2 Smith Avenue with John and Minnie Ryan, his foster parents.

Wilfred Dube was part of Camden's law enforcement scene for many years. Although he had left school after the eight grade, he was self-taught and quite well read. In 1926, before he was 21 years old, he graduated from the New Jersey State Police Academy at Sea Girt NJ, in that institution's twelfth graduating class. His badge number was 288. After a short spell in North Jersey, where he worked on horseback, Trooper Dube was transferred to motorcycle duty, and by 1928 was serving in South Jersey. In that year, while stationed at the Berlin barracks, he met and married Elizabeth Pauline Von Der Tann. The April 1930 Census shows Mr. and Mrs. Dube living at 101 Chestnut Street in Audubon NJ.

Wilfred L. Dube later worked as an investigator with the Camden County prosecutors office. he was hired by Samuel P. Orlando in 1937, and served under longtime Chief of Detectives Larry Doran and his successor, James J. Mulligan. Wilfred Dube followed Mulligan as Chief of Detectives and retired as Chief. His successor, named by then-Camden County Prosecutor Norman Heine, was to be Philip J. Large, but when Large was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), the post went to Russell Maurer. After leaving the Prosecutor's Office Wilfred Dube founded a guard service, which did quite well. Mr. and Mrs. Dube traveled extensively in his later years.

Last a resident of Cherry Hill NJ, Wilfred L. Dube he passed away in October of 1980, survived by his wife and daughter Yvonne, three grand-children, and by 2005 four-great-grandchildren.

Camden Courier-Post * February 7, 1933

CAMDEN PAIR ADMIT 4 SHORE ROBBERIES
Dandrea Gets 5 to 7 Years in Prison; Pal is Put on Probation

Mays Landing, Feb. 6.-One Camden man was sentenced to State's Prison for five to seven years and another was placed on probation for three years when they pleaded guilty on four indictments charging holdup and robbery. Sentence was imposed by Judge William H. Smathers in criminal court here today.

The prison term was meted out to Nicholas Dandrea, 24, who gave his address as 334 Clinton street, Camden. He was arrested November 17 by State Troopers Martin Hurden and Wilfred L. Dube. The man placed on probation is Morris Feller, 26, of 1254 Haddon avenue. Both men had originally pleaded not guilty, but changed their pleas today.

They were charged with holding up and robbing Frank Romeo, 40, and Emilio Cichetto, 51, of Minotolo, on October 9; Daniel Pentaleo, of Franklin street, Landisville, on October 16, and also on November 6, and Adam Procaccino, of Landisville, on November 8.

Romeo and Chichetto reported to state troopers when they were held up that they were tied to trees by Feller and Dandrea, who escaped in Chichetto's car. Ninety-six dollars, taken from the two men, was lost by the bandits in a crap game in Landisville, according to the troopers. Pantaleo was held up, robbed of $112, tied with rope, kidnapped in his own car and thrown out in a woods on October 16, He was putting his car in his garage when the two men placed guns at his side, he told the police. On November 6 they returned and again went through the same procedure, but this time did not obtain money. Pantaleo identified both men.

Procaccino, a waiter in a Landisville lunch wagon, was robbed of $11 at 2.30 a. m. as he was walking to his home.

Judge Smathers, in placing Feller on probation, said he was taking into consideration the fact that it was his first offense.

Camden Courier-Post * February 12, 1938

Four Charged With Numbers Using 'Bingo'
Marino, Girard Held At Merchantville In New Racket

A new numbers racket based on "Bingo" was disclosed yesterday when county detectives and Merchantville police arrested four men, two of them police characters.

The suspects were seized in an automobile parked within sight of the Merchantville police station.

The two with police records are Joseph Marino and Harry Girard. The others are Irving Chapman, 23, of 43 South Merchant street, and John Holmes, 23, of 227 Main street, both of Merchantville. All were arraigned on a charge of violating the state lottery law, before Justice of the Peace Samuel Rudolph, who complied with a request from Prosecutor Samuel P. Orlando and held them without bail for the grand jury.

Marino's police record dates to 1914. He received three suspended sentences, three other cases were nolle pressed by the court and on one occasion he served a jail sentence.

His last time in custody was as a suspect in the slaying of Abe Goodman, former numbers baron. He was released after questioning.

Girard's criminal record dates back to 1924. He has been arrested five times, serving two reformatory sentences and one term in the state prison.

Details of the new racket were not immediately divulged by the prosecutor's office. It was learned, however, that hundreds of "bing slips'" were seized by the police when the men were arrested.

The new game is operated by means of a printed slip which contains the word "Bingo" in large type at the top. There is a set of instructions for the player, part of which reads:

"More action for your money than any other game on the market, plays six days for 30 cents. Beginning Monday, write the daily policy number for that day in the three squares on the same line with the word Monday, continue in this manner for each day of the week from Monday until Saturday, making sure that you write that number issued for that particular day during the week. Your ticket is dated and write only on the line reserved for that day of the week. Whenever your ticket number appears in a straight line (in any direction) from using the daily numbers in this way you receive the amount printed beside arrow which points in the direction your ticket runs."

Space for Writing

Then follows a space for the writing of the daily number, with the amount of payoff, from $2 to $10, according to which manner your number reads if you "hit."

Police Chief William Linderman, County Detective Chief Lawrence T. Doran and County Detectives Wilfred Dube, James J. Mulligan, Joseph Bennie and Casmir Wojtkowiak arrested the four men, all of whom were taken at once to the office of Prosecutor Orlando for questioning.

It was revealed at the prosecutor's office that an attempt to flood Camden city and county with the new numbers game has been made during the last two weeks.

Detectives have been trailing an automobile during this time, believed to have been the car in which the men were seized yesterday.

Camden Courier-Post * February 14, 1938

11 NABBED BY POLICE IN GAMBLING RAIDS
7 Arrested in Bingo Numbers Racket; 4 Seized in Betting Place

Ten men and a woman were arrested in gambling raids over the weekend by Camden city and county authorities.

Seven were arrested for operating a "bingo numbers" racket. A warrant also was issued for Frank Palese, 400 Spruce street, a member of a widely known South Camden family, as the "big shot" of the racket, according to Chief Lawrence T. Doran, of county detectives. Doran said last night Palese is still a fugitive.

In another raid by Camden police, three men and a woman were arrested in an alleged horse racing betting establishment at 1149 Lansdowne avenue. The place was on the second floor over a grocery store, according to Sergeant Gus Koerner, City Detective Thomas Murphy, Jr.,
and Patrolman James McLaughlin, who made the raid. Koerner and Murphy also figured in the second raid.

Several racing forms and four telephones with two direct wires to tracks now in operation were seized, according to Koerner and Murphy, The police first arrested Roland Flynn, 36, of 589 Carman street; Neil Zeldman, 43, of 1064 Langham avenue, and James O'Donal, 27, of.
1119 Empire avenue, and held them in $1000 bail for violating the State crimes act.

Woman Arrested

Later Mrs. Rose Koplin, 37, who lives in an apartment over the store, was taken into custody on the same charge and held in $500 bail. Mrs. Koplin's brother, Milton Katz, posted cash bail for her release.

Katarina Pologruto, 420 West street, posted bail for O'Donal, who also is known as O'Donnell, and Flynn. Frank Davalos, saloonkeeper, of 441 Benson street, furnished bail for Zeldman.

Murphy reported that $700 had been bet on race horses at the establishment up until 3.30 p. m., Saturday, the time of the raid.

Among those arrested in the "bingo numbers" racket was Fred Rossi, who fought in the prize ring under the name of "Pee Wee" Ross. He was arrested Saturday afternoon at his home at 438 Mickle street by Koerner and Murphy.

O'Donal, Flynn, Zeidman and Mrs. Koplin will be given hearings today in police court.
Others under arrest in the lottery game their names and addresses as Joseph Marino, 288 Chestnut street; Harry Girard, 446 Pine street; Peter Branco, 1109 South Third street; Donald Goodman, of Woodlynne; Irving Chapman, 43 South Merchant street, Merchantville, and John Holmes, 227 Main street, Merchantville. An eighth man, James Lodge, Brooklawn, was questioned and released as a material witness.

Rossi, Branco, Goodman and Holmes were released in $500 bail each for the Grand Jury by Justice of the Peace Samuel Rudolph. Prosecutor Orlando said he would demand bail of $1000 each for release of Girard and Marino.

Refused to Sell

Lodge told the detectives he was approached to sell the slips but that he refused to take them.

Doran stated that Marino insists he is the operator of the lottery, but the county detective chief declared that Marino was merely trying to "take the rap" for Palese.

City and county authorities have been aware of the existence of the new racket for about 10 days. Murphy and Koerner had been detailed specifically by Commissioner Mary W. Kobus to investigate and break up the ring. The two sleuths followed numerous suspects, watching
where they went, and getting a list of stops and suspects.

The trap was sprung when Marino, Girard, Chapman and Holmes were arrested on South Centre street in Merchantville as they sat in a parked car. The car, according to Doran, bore license plates issued to Palese.

Merchantville police and Doran arrested the four and seized bingo numbers slips. Murphy and Koerner also arrested Branco, while County Detectives James Mulligan, Elmer Mathis, Wilfred Dube and Casmir Wojtkowiak arrested Goodman.

Doran admitted that the automobile in which the four men were found was the property of Palese. A search was made at the home of Palese, on Fourth street, near Spruce, but nothing indicating he was connected with the racket was found, Doran said. But Doran added he has information which leads him to believe Palese was the head of the new racket..

Camden Courier-Post * February 15, 1938

*Bingo Big-Shot?*	Frank Palese Surrenders In Racket Quiz Lent Car to Others He Says; Denies Charges Frank Palese, 26, of 900 South Fourth street, wanted as one of the alleged operators of the new "bingo" lottery racket, surrendered yesterday to County Detective Wilfred Dube. Palese had been sought during the weekend as the "big shot" of the racket after Joseph Marino, Harry Girard and five others were seized in the case. All but Marino and Girard were released in $500 bail before the surrender of Palese. Prosecutor Orlando fixed bail at $1000 each for Palese, Marino and Girard. Carl Kisselman, retained as counsel for the defendants, said he would provide the amount for them. According to Palese he simply lent his automobile to Marino and Girard, who were in Palese's car when arrested, and he knows nothing whatever about' the lottery charge. Among those out on bail is Fred Rossi, former boxer, who used the ring name of Pee-Wee Ross.

FRANK PALESE
3 Men and Woman Nabbed Police Judge Mariano overruled police objections and postponed until Wednesday morning the hearing of three men and a woman arrested as the result of a gambling raid at 1149 Lansdowne avenue Saturday. The request for a delay was made by Benjamin Asbell, defense lawyer, who said he had been retained only late Saturday and had lacked an opportunity to prepare his case. Sergeant Gus Koerner and Detective Thomas Murphy, Jr., asked that the case go on at once, saying they had enough evidence to hold the suspects for the grand jury. Murphy said Safety Director Kobus had asked that the hearing be held yesterday. Judge Mariano, however, said that Asbell's request was not unusual and that attorneys should be allowed time to obtain their evidence or witnesses. He continued the same bail which police set when the four were arrested. Lines to Tracks Seized Koerner, Murphy and Patrolman James McLaughlin said that horse race betting was conducted on the second floor of the Lansdowne avenue building, the ground floor of which is occupied by a grocery. Several racing forms and four telephones with two direct wires to tracks now in operation were seized, according to Koerner and Murphy. The police first arrested Roland Flynn, 36, of 589 Carman street; Neil Zeidman, 43, of 1064 Langham avenue, and James O'Donal, 27, of 1119 Empire avenue, and held them in $1000 bail for violating the State crimes act. Later Mrs. Rose Koplin, 37, who lives in an apartment over the store, was taken into custody on the same charge and held in $500 bail. Mrs. Koplin's brother, Milton Katz, posted cash bail for her release. Katarina Pologruto, 420 West street, posted bail for O'Donal, who also is known as O'Donnell, and Flynn. Frank Davalos, saloonkeeper, of 441 Benson street, furnished bail for Zeidman. Murphy reported that $700 had been bet on race horses at the establishment up until 3.30 p. m., Saturday, the time of the raid.

A difficult case that Wilfred Dube investigated in 1953 was that of the tragic suicide of James S. Wilkie, son of a veteran Camden police officer, John V. Wilkie. For several days after the shooting, Sgt. Wilkie claimed that he had shot his son, in order that he receive a Catholic funeral. He retracted his confession after it became apparent that he could not deceive the city and county investigators, and was released after the grand jury refused to return an indictment.

This tragic case saw the involvement of many of Camden's law enforcement and legal community, including Benjamin Asbell, Mitchell H. Cohen, Thomas Murphy, James J. Mulligan, J. James Hainsworth, Samuel P. Orlando, John Healey, and Joseph Bennie, among others.

Camden Courier-Post - December 21, 1953

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Gettysburg PA Times - December 23, 1953

Detective Is Held For Shooting Son

Camden NJ (AP)- A Camden city detective, Sgt. John V. Wilkie, is being held on a manslaughter charge in the shooting of his 17 year-old son.
       Police said last night Wilkie told them his son was killed accidentally as he and the youth struggled for his service revolver Sunday morning.
       The boy's death had been called a suicide by Camden County Coroner John A. Healy. A pathology report indicated that the head wound sustained by the younger Wilkie was self-inflicted.
       Camden County Prosecutor Mitchell H. Cohen said the detective told him he tried to take his own life after his son was shot but the pistol misfired.
       Wilkie was charged with manslaughter and held in custody pending a hearing to set bail.

Camden Courier-Post - December 24, 1953

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Camden Courier-Post - December 26, 1953


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Camden Courier-Post - December 28, 1953

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Camden Courier-Post - December 31, 1953
*Wilkie Freed By Vote of Grand Jury*

Camden Courier-Post - April 1, 2004
Ties That Bind by Christina Mitchell

Scrapbooks, Family Stories
Recall Lives Lived With Passion

"You must meet the most interesting people," Lisa Sollenberger said to me recently about this column.

She had just lost one of the treasures in her life, her 96-year-old grandmother, Elizabeth Dube'.

The truth is, I often meet interesting people like Elizabeth after they've died, when families gladly open their scrapbooks and loved ones jump off the pages.

This was one of those times.

Lisa has two scrapbooks that belonged to her grandmother, known to her three grandchildren as "Granel." Her husband, Wilfred L., was known as "Pa-pa."

There's Granel and Pa-pa on their trip to Bermuda. Granel when she graduated from Glassboro Teacher's College in the late '20s. Pa-pa in the staunch uniform of a New Jersey state trooper.

And there's Granel's lady-like handwriting describing and dating every major event.

"I really thought she would live to be well over 100," said Lisa, as she flipped through one scrapbook's stiff pages.

Elizabeth, who died March 21, was a woman who always looked "89 going on 60," according to Lisa, because she kept her figure and wore tailored clothes she sewed herself.

When her only child, Yvonne Wolf, first entered her mother's apartment at a Moorestown independent living facility days after her death, "I found two outfits, all pinned and patterned and ready to go."

"When you walked into her house, it always felt like she was waiting for you," recalled Lisa, mother to two of Elizabeth's four great-grandchildren.

Pa-pa was a broad man who could work any room he walked into. He enjoyed a good meal and a cigar and had the audacity to make a move on his future wife right in her parents' kitchen. In the late '20s, no less.

"Did my mother tell you that story?" Lisa giggled. "The first time he met her, her back was to him at the sink. And he walked up and put his arms around her. And then his friend introduced him!"

"He knew the minute he laid eyes on her he was going to marry her," said Yvonne of her father, then a confident young state trooper.

It was 1928, Elizabeth was fresh out of college and Pa-pa - or Doobie, as his wife called him - was billetted at the Berlin barracks of the state police, then the private home of Elizabeth's parents on the White Horse Pike. It was a routine living arrangement for troopers in those days and Yvonne remembers her mother's parents serving the police butter, "and we had to eat margarine."

"It was the best eatin' station in New Jersey," the Marlton resident added.

Doobie and his "honey" secretly eloped to Elkton, Md., spent a night in Camden at the Walt Whitman Hotel, then sprang the news on her parents. But if marriage began surreptitiously, it was hardly quiet thereafter.

"When they got together, the party began," Yvonne recalled of her parents, who lived with gusto. "Even if it was just the two of them."

Wilfred Dube' became chief of the Camden County detectives, then founded a guard service business, a venture that bought the couple a nice life: travel, summers in Florida, nights out at Lucien's or to watch the floor show at the Silver Lake Inn.

For a while, they lived just blocks from Yvonne and her three children in Cherry Hill.

"Whenever the kids got mad at me they would take their tricycles and ride to Granel's and Pa-pa's," said Yvonne, for treats of vanilla milk shakes made with Breyer's ice cream, Thin Mints and pound cake.

When Pa-pa died in 1980, Elizabeth forged a life of her own, in part in a white Lincoln Town Car powered by a heavy foot. That foot wore 3-inch heels until she was about 92.

She played bridge until she died and thanked her lucky stars she could remain independent.

"She had all her faculties, didn't she, Rog?" Yvonne asked of her husband, Roger.

Can't ask for more than that. Ninety-six years. All your faculties. A lifetime of memories.

Still, said Yvonne, it won't be easy to say goodbye.

"She led a happy life. That helps to deal with this," she mused, tilting back in a recliner. "But she's been so much a part of us for so long, it's gonna leave a hole."

Wide as a canyon, in fact.

And, yes, I do meet the most interesting people.

*Camden Courier-Post June 3, 1930**

Catherine Christman - Joseph Conti - Nicholas Bartluci - John Fisher - Mary Reginelli - Marco Reginelli
	Garfield S. Pancoast - Clifford A. Baldwin William "Big Bill" Wierman - Ralph Bakley C. Leonard Brehm - Louis Schlam Clarence Bunker - Clarence Arthur Wilfred L. Dube - Andrew Zopesky

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From Left: Howard Smith - James Paradise - Theodore Guthrie - Joseph Mardino - Walter Welch Vernon Jones - Walter Smith

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	Highland Avenue South 33rd Street North 34th Street

*Camden Courier-Post June 9, 1932**

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Joseph Hillop - Abe Fuhrman - Broadway - Clifford A. Baldwin - Arthur Holl Lawrence T. Doran - Jules Derowski - Harry Ireton - Wilfred Dube - Ray Osborne Joe Bielec - Frank Rock - Tommy Reilly - Alfred Ripka - Louie Frank Howard Ripka - Frankie Ripka - Lena Hillop - Anna Hillop - John Kelly

Camden Courier-Post - January 24, 1940


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