Will County police remember officers fallen in duty

Police officers from across Will County gathered in Joliet on Thursday to pay tribute to 37 comrades in law enforcement who have died in the course of duty since 1865.

The list of those who died doing their duty, which was read at the ceremony, includes Lenore Carroll’s father.

Carroll, a Joliet resident who attends the Law Enforcement Memorial Day ceremony every year, lost her father when she was 7 years old.

Her father, Louis Barney, was a Joliet motorcycle patrol officer who was hit by a truck when working an event called the Pageant of Progress at Memorial Stadium in 1954.

“You think it doesn’t bother you, but it does anyway,” Carroll said of the loss of her father as she talked about what the annual ceremony means to her. “I don’t know what I would do if they didn’t have it. It’s so nice to know that people remember.”

Barney actually was to start his vacation the day he decided to help out at the Pageant of Progress and lost his life, Carroll said.

The unfortunate timing of his demise was reflected in the remarks of the guest speaker at the memorial event.

Caitlyn Brennan, chief executive officer of The 100 Club of Illinois, an organization devoted to remembering fallen officers and helping their families, commented on how the perils of police work and the people they encounter can collide with their lives and that of their families.

“They don’t care if you have a child on the way or are a month away from retirement,” Brennan said.

She pointed to the April 21 slaying of Chicago Police Officer Luis Huesca, who was shot dead returning home from work just days short of his 31st birthday.

The ceremony at a monument recognizing fallen officers at the site of the old Will County Courthouse followed a Mass said at St. Mary Nativity Church in Joliet.

The list of Will County officers who died while on duty ran from the 1865 death of Joseph Clark, an officer at the Joliet Correctional Center, to the 2022 death of Will County Sheriff’s Officer Michael John Queeney.

The list is made up mostly of officers who died violent deaths but includes those who died from natural causes.

Queeney, a 20-year veteran of the sheriff’s department, died from COVID-19 complications.

Tracy Chapman’s voice choked up a bit as she read the list of fallen officers and came to the name of Queeney, whom she knew.

Chapman is chief of the Forest Preserve District of Will County Police. She also is president of the Police Chiefs Association of Will County, which organizes the annual Law Enforcement Memorial Day ceremony.

“Let us remember all of our Will County heroes as well as others in counties across the state and around the country,” Chapman said.

Those in attendance included Joliet Junior College Police Chief Brandon Campbell, who commented afterwards on the importance of police showing up for families who lost loved ones doing police work.

“It’s great for us to be seen and for them to see us supporting them,” Campbell said.

Will County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Chief Dan Jungles said the annual ceremony is one of his favorite days “because we get to honor those who sacrificed their lives for the good of the community.”

Brennan in her remarks emphasized that police officers were on the side of goodness, while recognizing that their jobs have grown more difficult because of opposition from some in their communities.

“For those of you who continue on the job and work for what is good,” she said, “remember that we look to you to uphold all that is good.”