Page 34 - December 2018

Honoring a Hero
ONE CONTINUED FROM PAGE 33
the people of this city, protecting them, putting others’ lives
before his own, as he proved a week ago today.”

You don’t raise heroes, you raise sons. And if you treat them like sons, they’ll turn out to be heroes, even if it’s just in your own eyes. Samuel Jimenez apparently was raised that way by parents who moved to Logan Square from Puerto Rico. The youngest of their nine children, Sam insisted he was going to be a firefighter or a cop from the time he was little, according to his brother Antonio.
“He wanted to be able to save lives and do something his kids could look up to,” recalled Antonio, perhaps not intend- ing to recite one of the basic definitions of being a hero.
As so many of those who knew Jimenez back then defined their friend and brother, the words “courageous” and “com- passionate” kept bubbling up. So did “loyal” and “caring.” No wonder he wanted so badly to become a police officer.
Apparently, Sam’s desire gained such renown that it marked his path. Alison Belz, a bartender at Moretti’s in Edison Park, recalled a 17-year-old busboy who did more than just talking all the time about being a cop. “You asked Sam to do anything, anything you wanted, and he would do it for anybody,” Belz confirmed.
And when Mayor Rahm Emanuel added his contribution to the eulogy at the funeral Mass, he recognized, “To those who
grew up with him and those who went to school with him at Chase Elementary and Foreman High School, it came as no surprise that Sammy Jimenez became Officer Jimenez.” Fur- ther research revealed to the mayor that “Samuel Jimenez looked out for others as a badge of honor long before he wore the CPD badge.”
Jimenez became a favorite son at Foreman College and Ca- reer Academy, and not just because he was a two-way line- man on the football team. Audrey Phelan, an art teacher at Foreman whose son Dan is an officer in 007, had Sam in class along with a young woman named Crystal Garcia, whom she described as a firecracker. Phelan noticed something special in Sam that would not only enable him to step up to become a police officer, but also step to becoming worthy of winning Crystal’s love.
“He had the rare teenage quality for following through on things,” Phelan commended. “He was just one of those stand- up kids, one of those kids you think, ‘He’s a good guy. I hope everything goes right for him.’”

A hero is someone who has given his or her life to some- thing bigger than oneself. For Samuel Jimenez, family was that something. In addition to exhibiting his dedication to serving people working at Moretti’s, Sam worked multiple jobs to pro- vide for Crystal and the kids while waiting for the call to get into the academy.
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“In Honor of Officer Samuel Jimenez”
Condolences to the family and friends of Officer Samuel Jimenez and to our community mourning a true hero.
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34 CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ DECEMBER 2018
Our thoughts
are with Officer Jimenez’s family, friends, and colleagues.
We also send our deepest thanks to those who serve and protect us. You will never be forgotten.