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Honoring Police Officer Ernest "Ernie" Rehr as the 2006 PAL Officer of the Year.
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WHEREAS, Ernest, or Ernie as he is better known, was born on June 11, 1957 at Hahnemann Hospital in Philadelphia to Evelyn C. Rehr and Ernest Rehr Sr. Ernie would spend most of his young life at a home on Granite Street in Oxford Circle. His love of athletics was evident early on as he could always be found out on the street playing sports; and
WHEREAS, Ernie, at the age of 14, lost his mother to cancer. Ernie stepped up and helped his father, a Philadelphia Police Officer, take care of his three younger siblings Andrew, Jane and baby Paul; and
WHEREAS, Ernie attended Frankford High School where he was an outstanding three sport athlete. Many fans, in awe of his baseball talent,would attend just to see if Ernie would "hit one" over the fence. To this day, he attends alumni functions and sporting events cheering on the red, blue and gold; and
WHEREAS, Upon graduation Ernie continued both his education and his athletic career at the Community College of Philadelphia, majoring in accounting. As the captain of the baseball team, Ernie led the squad to the championship and set many team records; and
WHEREAS, He followed in his father's footsteps by becoming a Philadelphia Police Officer in June 1995. Armed with a lifelong love for athletics and the family history of law enforcement, Ernie had found the perfect career in becoming a PAL Officer at the Frank L. Rizzo PAL Center in Port Richmond; and
WHEREAS, Officer Ernie has become a neighborhood icon and hero as he takes hundreds of kids under his wing. He molds them into respectful young men and women through their participation in numerous PAL programs. Most importantly, these youths know that his office door is always open to them and that Officer Ernie is their friend and ally; and
WHEREAS, Sharing this honor with him is his wife Robin and his children Shannon and Ernest III, as well as his new gr...
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