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Community Corner

Softball Game Honors Legacy of Fallen Officer

Jon Walsh is remembered as a great guy and a great police officer.

“C’mon, we need a run here!”

If you were sitting in the stands at the Harvester Park softball field Saturday afternoon, you would have heard a lot of the typical chatter you’d expect to hear at a ball game. But, in between the usual shouts of encouragement, you might have heard some other comments that would have let you know this was not a typical game.

“…only to see if his DNA is in the system.”

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“You goin’ yard Bobby?”

“I think they’re going to have to charge him with a hit-and-run.”

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“I might try to go down the right-field line. There’s a lot of room.”

“…probably a criminal trespass if anything.”

There were police officers in the stands and on the field because this was the Fourth Annual Jon Walsh Charity Softball Game, held annually during in memory of the former Burr Ridge police officer who was killed Aug. 20, 2004 while on duty for the Joliet Police Department.

“He was on his way responding to a burglar alarm call when a subject that had a revoked driver’s license and wasn’t supposed to be driving sideswiped him,” recalled Burr Ridge Police Cpl. Michael Barnes.

Tragic Accident

The impact caused young Walsh’s vehicle to slam into a crane, killing him. Joliet police found the Chevy Blazer that struck his car abandoned on a city street. After a five-hour manhunt, the driver was apprehended. He was convicted of failure to stop after an accident and driving on a revoked license and was sentenced to six months in jail and four years probation.

Walsh, just 27, served 3 1/2 years with the Joliet department after beginning his career in Burr Ridge.

“I don’t think I ever saw Jon without a smile on his face,” Barnes said. “His mom wears a shirt showing a picture of him with a big smile and a lot of bright white teeth. That was Jon, every day, all day.”

Barnes and his children started the annual softball game in Walsh’s memory to benefit the Concerns Of Police Survivors (COPS).

“It’s really a unique organization,” Barnes said. “We are there to support family members and co-workers of officers that are killed in the line of duty. … We’re there to help rebuild.”

Barnes said COPS helps survivors in many ways. The softball game was part of an effort to raise $5,000 to send Walsh’s mother, Norma Walsh, and his niece, Riley Kralik, to Washington, D.C. for the National COPS Walk.

“We help cover or defray the expenses so family members are able to go to these events,” Barnes said. “The money is also used to help family members make it to Springfield or Washington, D.C. to see the officer’s name engraved in the [memorial] walls.”

Father Delivers First Pitch

Norma Walsh was under the weather Saturday and unable to attend the softball game, but Jon Walsh’s father, Greg Walsh, a retired police officer, was on hand to toss the ceremonial first pitch. He was asked if his son always wanted to follow in his footsteps.

“Oh, golly, that’s the only thing the kid ever wanted to do,” Walsh said. “My two brothers were police officers and cousins and people like that, so he kind of grew up in a police atmosphere. When he turned 16, he became a cadet with the Chicago Ridge Police Cadets.”

He went on to become the commander of the cadets, then at 21 became a regular police officer.

“He enjoyed his time in Burr Ridge,” Walsh said. “That was his first full-time job. He was really proud of it and they treated him outstanding. They were just wonderful to him.”

After two years with Burr Ridge, Jonathan Walsh began working with the Joliet department on Feb. 26, 2001, the same day as another new officer, Tony Lakota.

“He was highly motivated,” Lakota said while warming up for the softball game. “He was truly dedicated to the job. … He was good with people, even the arrestees.”

People Skills

Lakota recalled how Walsh’s ability to relate to people—even criminals—helped solve the brutal rape and murder of a teacher in Joliet two years before they started working for the department.

The police arrested a man on a simple drug offense, but Walsh began talking to him about other crimes he might know about.

“He said, ‘Yeah. I know about a murder,’” Lakota remembered. “Because of Jon working with the guy and talking nice to the guy—and the guy didn’t want to talk to anyone else but Jon—he gave a full videotaped statement of his participation in the crime. He, basically, was the driver, and gave a vivid description of everything that happened from step to step. Because of Jon doing that, he was able to solve a high-profile murder case.”

“He really and truly wanted to help people,” his father said. “That was his desire. You’re always out there catching the bad guys; that’s part of the job. But his day was focused really on helping people … somebody who was broke down on the side of the road or children lost, things like that. He got a lot of joy out of that. He had a lot of compassion for people.”

One time, Lakota said, Walsh assisted a mom with two children who had a car break down.

“He bought her diapers and formula,” Lakota said, “and got her over to one of the hotels and got her lodging for the night. Jon was always really good like that, and because of that, I was able to find out how to be a better officer myself.”

Keeping His Memory Alive

Walsh helped start a Joliet police softball team, one of the reasons his memory is honored each year with a ball game. It always matches the same teams, the Guns (police officers) vs. the Hoses (Pleasantview Fire Department members). Coming into Saturday’s game, the Hoses had won all three previous meetings, which may be why the scoreboard showed the Guns with 10 runs before the game even started.

“Did we give them a 10-run lead?” asked a player for the Hoses.

“Yeah, it was in the contract,” responded PA announcer Ed Johnson. “We were going to give the police department a 10-run lead to even things out a bit.”

As it turned out, the Guns didn’t need the extra help this time, rallying from a two-run deficit in the bottom of the ninth to claim a 10-9 victory.

Johnson also worked with Walsh in Joliet.

“He was one of those guys we used to kid all the time,“ Johnson said. “Everybody that knew him said you knew he was coming because his cologne arrived about a half-hour before he did.”

“He was a bit of a prankster,” his father said. “He liked to have a lot of fun, but he could take it, too.”

Johnson said Walsh was a good street cop.

“He wasn’t just a gung-ho kid,” he said. “He was doing it because he actually liked doing the job, and was good at we did. He took time to know who people were.”

Walsh was active in community policing in Joliet and was well regarded by the people he served. So much so, that after his death, community members donated funds and space for a statue to be erected in his memory in downtown Joliet.

In Burr Ridge, the softball game serves as a living reminder of a life that may have been short, but was well spent.

“He enjoyed his career,” Greg Walsh said. “The Lord had other plans. That’s the only thing we can say.”

For more information: Visit Walsh's page on the Officer Down Memorial Web site.

To contribute: Visit the Illinois COPS Web site or to help the Wash family members make the trip to Washington, D.C., call Cpl. Barnes at 630-654-8181, ext. 5120 or Cpl. Luke Volpo at ext. 5130.

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