Roll of Honor
Incident
Patrolman John Zardeski suffered a fatal heart attack while driving home shortly after completing his eight-hour patrol shift.
Patrolman Zardeski had responded to a four-vehicle accident at the intersection of North Pennsylvania Avenue and North Washington Street near the end of his shift. As a result of the accident, two people had to be taken to the hospital. After clearing the scene of the accident Patrolman Zardeski returned to the station to complete the accident report and turned it into the Desk Sergeant before being cleared to go home. As he was returning home he suffered a fatal heart attack behind the wheel of his vehicle in the 400 blocks of Hazel Avenue crashing into two vehicles in the oncoming lane. The first officers who responded to the scene immediately recognized Patrolman Zardeski and administered oxygen at the scene and en route to Mercy Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
Patrolman Zardeski was a U.S Army veteran of WWII and had served with the Wilkes-Barre Police Department for more than 17 years.
Survivors
He was survived by his wife and two step-children.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-PA-4623D859- Stewardship
- Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
- Added to badge.nw
- April 2, 2026
- Last updated
- July 23, 2026
Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.
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Tributes
I served 1985 to 1993. You served too, before the badge - different uniform, same idea. You go where you are sent and you do not get to pick the call.
Patrolman Zardeski gave the Wilkes-Barre Police Department 17 years.
Thank you for your service to the Wilkes-Barre community. Thank you for your service before it. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, brother.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Military Service
John Zardeski served in the United States military before joining law enforcement. Full service record available on salute.nw.
Patrolman John Zardeski is one of 1,306 officers lost to cardiac events in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 4% of all 32,508 officers honored here.
In PA, 118 of 1,261 officers were lost to cardiac events in the line of duty — 9.4% of this state's fallen. That is 5.4 percentage points above the national rate of 4%.
At Wilkes-Barre Police Department, 1 of 6 officers on record were lost to cardiac events in the line of duty — 16.7% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Cardiac compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. John Zardeski's cause is highlighted.
How John Zardeski Compares
When Cardiac Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Cardiac deaths across the full memorial record. John Zardeski is highlighted in Dec.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
5 officers from Wilkes-Barre Police Department are honored on badge.nw.
