Former safety chief for Pittsburgh Public Schools
When the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, created America’s modern day that will live in infamy, Robert S. Fadzen Jr. wasn’t the type to sit around and do nothing.
Then the safety chief for Pittsburgh Public Schools, Mr. Fadzen and his eldest son, Robert III — at the time a City of Pittsburgh Housing Authority police officer — got into a car and drove to New York City, where police were emotionally shell-shocked by losses among their own ranks and in need of support and assistance. Both Fadzens were deputized as New York City police officers and aided with patrols and security in the immediate aftermath of the attacks.
It was that kind of selflessness that inspired his younger son, Jon, to pursue a career at the Department of Homeland Security. He was 24 at the time and between jobs.
“That was absolutely what pushed me,” said Jon Fadzen, who is now a Transportation Security Administration surface transportation security inspector.
Robert S. Fadzen Jr. died Nov. 22 from complications related to heart problems and diabetes. He was 67.
He was born in Pittsburgh and grew up in the section of the West End once referred to as “Chicken Hill.” There, he met his childhood sweetheart, Cynthia Smith, who would eventually become his wife of 46 years. He attended Bishop Canevin Catholic High School and graduated from the city’s Langley High School in 1969.
Almost a year after he graduated from Langley, Mr. Fadzen began what would be a 22-year career in security at Bell Telephone.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice at the University of Pittsburgh in 1978 and a law degree from Duquesne University in 1984.
According to a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette profile of Mr. Fadzen in 1996, he worked his way up to regional manager of security at Bell, and over the years earned several awards and commendations for his work. But he also got pulled into the Public Utility Commission’s 1987 investigation into fraud at Bell.
“He was security chief when a minor dispute within a Bell subsidiary, Pittsburgh Graphics Group, ballooned into an investigation that uncovered such violations as giving outsiders confidential phone records of customers.
“Fadzen cooperated with the state Public Utility Commission’s investigation and testified at a PUC hearing that Bell prematurely ended its internal inquiry into the scandal.
“After taking an early-retirement incentive package from Bell, Fadzen entered the Allegheny County police academy.”
The move was a natural one, as his father, Robert Sr., was a firearms instructor for Pittsburgh police and later the chief of police for Carnegie Mellon University.
“Bob followed his dad’s footsteps — he grew up around all those Pittsburgh police,” Mrs. Fadzen said.
Mr. Fadzen graduated from the academy in 1992 and began working part time for the Oakdale police force. In March 1994 he got a job with the New Brighton Area force.
He joined Pittsburgh Public Schools in 1994, and in 1996 he was promoted to safety chief. He was dismissed from that job in August 2012 for exceeding his jurisdictional authority as a result of a controversy in which he pulled over an ambulance on Route 65 some 11 months prior.
Despite an unexpected end to his career, Mr. Fadzen was not a bitter man.
“He loved life, being with people and bringing joy to their lives,” his wife said. “We’re lucky to have had a lot of years with him.”
“He had a heart of gold,” Jon Fadzen said. “He would give everything even at times he didn’t have anything to give. He wanted people to be happy and to help people as much as he could.”
And that was something he stressed to Jon when he pursued a career with TSA.
“He told me, ‘You’re helping people and you’re making a difference,’” Jon Fadzen said. “He was proud of me.”
In addition to his wife and son Jon, Mr. Fadzen is survived by two sisters, Rose Hoover and Cathy Kutz. He was preceded in death by his son Robert III. The funeral was held Tuesday with a private burial.