Page 55 - October Newsletter

Memorial moments
n BY DAN CAMPANA
They gathered at dusk on Sept. 18 near an honorary street sign commemorating Officer Benjamin Perez.
Fifteen years to the day Perez was fatally struck by a train while working a stakeout, dozens of police officers, cadets, Perez’s rela- tives, Gold Star families and community members came together at 53rd and Nashville for a memorial roll call.
“It means so much to the family,” Phil Cline, executive director of the Chicago Police Memorial Foundation, said of the assem- bled crowd.
With squad lights flickering in the distance, speakers recalled Perez — a four-year veteran who earned numerous police honors in a short amount of time — as a hardworking police officer and someone his family should still be proud of even after all these years.
Officers honor fallen officer’s son; he returns the sentiment
On Sept. 9, the colleagues of Officer Alejandro “Alex” Valadez, who died while on duty in June 2009, made sure that his son had a special eighth birthday. A parade of squad cars, led by a tactical vehicle, roared into Alex Jr.’s neighborhood with sirens blaring for the big day. The younger Valadez never met his father, but the of- ficers have always been a part of his life — including attending his kindergarten graduation.
A few weeks later, Alex Jr. returned the favor by hosting a pizza party for the police family that has supported him since his fa- ther’s death. The young man raised money to buy the meal as a thank-you to the officers who have always been by his side.
The elder Valadez died in a shooting on South Hermitage short- ly before his son was born. d
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CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ OCTOBER 2017 55