Officer Jack Gibbons To Be Included on National Memorial

Thirteen years after his death, Woburn Police Officer Jack Gibbons will be included on the national law enforcement memorial in Washington, D.C.

According to Officer Gibbons' family, the late police officer will have his named etched into the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial this spring. He will join Woburn Police Officer Jack Maguire, who was listed on the memorial in 2011 after his death in December of 2010.

Officer Gibbons died in 1999, after suffering a heart attack caused by an injury received on-duty for the Woburn Police Department. For years, his family, including current Woburn Police Lieutenant Joe Gibbons and Officer Mark Gibbons, fought to have his name listed as an official line-of-duty death.

On Sunday, the family announced that the distinction had been made.

"He didn't 'just have a heart attack,'" said a family member on the Facebook page dedicated to Officer Gibbons. "Thanks to [Woburn Police] Chief [Robert] Ferullo, [former Acting] Chief [Richard] Kelly, Officer [Bob] Friberg, Linda Gibbons, Joe Gibbons, Mark Gibbons and Officer Dan Perenick Winchester PD (I hope I didn't forget anyone) this May. Jackie's name will be engraved on that wall."

The Gibbons family will be at the memorial's candlelight vigil to recognize the late officer at the official ceremony.

"We will be there saying a prayer for Jack and remembering what a truly great guy he was," said a family member on the official Facebook page. "Jack, I am very proud of you, I miss you and I love you."