When Domenic Brusco Sr. was named chief of the Forest Hills Police Department in March 1988, he said: "I love my town and the people. I love helping people."

That commitment defined him throughout his life.

Mr. Brusco, 82, died Nov. 6 in the Harrison City section of Penn Township.

His oldest son, Domenic Jr., 49, of Harrison City, said his father's strong faith guided his attitude toward his life and work.

"He had a real spirit of service," he said, adding that the Rev. Douglas Dorula had summed up that spirit at his father's funeral Mass in St. Barbara Catholic Church in Harrison City.

"He said my father really knew what 'God and country' meant."

Mr. Brusco served in the Marine Corps during World War II, receiving two Purple Hearts.

He also was a longtime member of the Forest Hills Volunteer Fire Department, where he served as assistant fire chief.

"He truly loved Forest Hills, and he was a consummate professional about everything that had to do with the safety of this town," said Robert Full, 54, chief of Allegheny County's Department of Emergency Services.

Mr. Full knew Mr. Brusco most of his life, having grown up on the same street in Forest Hills as the Brusco family and later serving with him as a member of the fire department.

Although Mr. Brusco was an imposing 6 feet 2 and 240 pounds, Mr. Full said, it wasn't just his appearance that "commanded respect."

He remembered Mr. Brusco as always being fair.

Mr. Brusco was born in Pittsburgh. After marrying Martha Gallagher in 1953, he and his wife settled in Forest Hills and had five children. They lived there until 1993, when he retired from the police department and they relocated to Harrison City.

Mr. Brusco owned Dom's Texaco on Ardmore Boulevard for 12 years in the 1950s and '60s and became a Forest Hills police officer in 1961. He eventually was promoted to lieutenant, then became chief in 1988.

His son said that becoming police chief was one of his father's proudest moments. The other was when he was chosen to participate in law enforcement training at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Va., in 1973.

"It was a vigorous and honorable time for him," said Mr. Brusco Jr., adding that his father had to prepare for weeks for the training.

Mr. Brusco Jr. said growing up as the son of a local police officer led to some humorous situations. A graduate of Churchill High School, now part of Woodland Hills School District, he said classmates sometimes would tell him they had been pulled over by his father.

"But they knew he was fair," he said. "My dad was the kind of policeman who believed in letting people know when they are wrong but helping them understand what they did."

He summed up his father simply: "He was a hero."

In addition to his wife and son, Mr. Brusco is survived by another son, David A., of Forest Hills; and three daughters, Diane M. Turley, of Swissvale, Debra A. Heddinger, of Suwanee, Ga., and Darlene M. Landstorfer, of Harrison City.