Nate Landsberg, 83; Reserve Officer Aided LAPD Detectives

Nate Landsberg, octogenarian Los Angeles Police Department reserve officer who helped detectives track down homicide suspects, died Monday. He was 83.

Landsberg, who had worked once a week in the department’s South Bureau, died in his Culver City home of kidney cancer, his daughter Lois LaBrie said.

The veteran administrative reserve officer was praised by the board of the LAPD Reserve Foundation in August and presented with a cake for his birthday.

He was considered the oldest person--at the age of 71--to join the reserves and was active in the foundation.

“I just want to serve the community,” Landsberg told The Times in August. “That’s all that’s important.”

He had lived in the Los Angeles area since 1918 and spent his career as a bill collector.

Working for the police one day a week, Landsberg often used his old sources in tracking downsuspects. As his reputation grew, officers from the South Bureau and other bureaus began calling him at home for advice.

“I’m not tired, so why retire?” he said.

In order to qualify for the administrative reserve duty, Landsberg passed an entrance exam and completed four months of police training classes. He was paid $50 a month.

Landsberg is survived by his wife, Esther; two daughters, LaBrie and Linda Arnold, three grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

Services, including a 21-gun salute by the LAPD, are scheduled for 1 p.m. Friday at Hillside Memorial Park and Mortuary, 6001 W. Centinela Ave.