Page 37 - November 2021

You’re a Grand
‘Old Man’
He was a mentor. He was a leader. He was a teacher. And everybody who knew him looked up to esteemed Lodge 7 President Dean Angelo Sr.
n BY MITCHELL KRUGEL
From Donald Trump to Rahm Emanuel to John Dineen to John Catanzara to Father Dan, everybody seems to have an un- forgettable or extraordinary story to tell about Dean Angelo Sr. The stories made Dean such an engaging figure because he also could spin yarn after yarn and ignite interest and passion with each detail.
The story that best defines Dean’s commitment and affinity for Chicago Lodge 7 and its members comes from the individu- al most likely to inherit his panache for chronicling. When shar- ing a memory about the person so many of us called “the old man,” Dean Angelo Jr. doesn’t have to think too long to describe how much Chicago Police Officers meant to his father.
Back in the 1990s, the Department used to hold a Complaint Review Panel to decide discipline. Lodge 7 field reps would go before the panel to make a case for dismissing or lessening the hits on the officers.
Dean Jr. remembers the old man buried in the living room of the family house among case files spread all over the place. He would read, reread and research every case to formulate an argument that would reach the best possible outcome. The only breaks Dean would take came when one of his police offi- cer students at Calumet College, where he served as an adjunct professor, would call with a question.
Dean Angelo Sr. pins the star #11107 that he wore on his daughter Aman- da when she came on the Department. Dean Angelo Jr. (right) was also there to participate in the pinning ceremony.
small it was, he would always take the time to give it his person- al touch and run it all the way to the finish line,” explained Dean Jr., who is a sergeant assigned to the academy. “He cared about other people’s success over his own.”
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“Even when I was a kid, I remember no matter how big or
CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ NOVEMBER 2021 37