Louis Popovich, an Allegheny County police officer for 30 years, received an unlikely honor after he served as golfer Jack Nicklaus' bodyguard in the 1962 U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club.

On a wall in the Heinz History Center's Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum, his family spotted a picture of Mr. Nicklaus, who won the Open that year, walking beside golfer Arnold Palmer and a uniformed police officer.

The police officer was Mr. Popovich, and his daughter, Janet Tumbas of Elizabeth, said their family joked about the photo being his claim to fame.

"Wow, three golfers," she said. "Only one of them isn't very good."

Her father did enjoy golfing after he retired from the police force in 1984, but he also filled his days with hunting, fishing, church activities and listening to Serbian music. Mr. Popovich died Dec. 21 at age 85 at Cedars of Monroeville from congestive heart failure.

He had been a lifelong resident of Rankin, where he was born Sept. 1, 1924, the only child of Serbian immigrants. He went to Rankin High School, then enlisted in the U.S. Army following his father's death in 1943. He had a wool allergy and was the only son and main financial supporter of his mother, so he probably could have sought a deferment, Ms. Tumbas said, but he enlisted anyway.

The Army planned to send him to Europe with an infantry unit, but he came down with bronchitis and was not shipped over. When he recovered, he was sent to England as a member of a heavy-duty maintenance unit. In the weeks leading up to D-Day, he was given the task ensuring the vehicles to be used in the assault worked.

"There were so many vehicles, and he would just go from one to the other to start them," Ms. Tumbas said.

During the Battle of the Bulge, he was assigned to a replacement division but was never called into combat. In December of 1944, his feet were severely frostbitten, and doctors planned to amputate. But the surgery was delayed briefly due to a visiting dignitary, and over that weekend he regained feeling in his leg and avoided amputation.

He ended his military service with another maintenance unit, traveling through Europe gathering destroyed or repairable vehicles left behind in battles, and then became a driver for an army colonel.

He returned to Rankin in 1946 and worked briefly in a factory job, then began his career with the county police in 1954. He started on horse patrol, then moved to motorcycles and later became a safety officer.

In addition to his daughter, survivors include his wife of 60 years, Mildred Mrvos Popovich, his son, Steven Popovich of Hempfield, and three grandchildren.

He was buried Wednesday in Grandview Cemetery following funeral services at the St. Nicholas Serbian Orthodox Church in Monroeville.

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