Page 30 - November 2015

Joe IV (right) with his father, Joe Quinn (center), and his mother
‘Part of another family’
Circumstance brought Allen Koronkiewicz to the Chicago Police Department.
The veteran grew up in Bridgeport – the same neighborhood Mayor Richard Daley called home – and Koronkiewicz said people who lived there could easily find a career as a firefighter or police officer.
“Policing seemed like a really good career for a person,” Koronkiewicz considered.
In 1967, Koronkiewicz was drafted into the U.S. Army and was sta- tioned with the Signal Corps in South Korea. He would serve near the 38th Parallel for about a year before his honorable discharge at the age of 21.
Joining the Chicago Police Department in 1970 was a natural fit for Koronkiewicz. Moving from one close-knit group in the Army to another on the force was like adopting a new tribe.
“You did feel like you were another part of the family,” he described. “You’re putting your life in their hands just like you would in the mili- tary.”
Over his long career that wrapped in 2010, Koronkiewicz was able to do more than just make arrests and see people at their worst.
“There were opportunities to make a difference,” he said. “It made you feel good to be able to help somebody who was struggling or a vic- tim.”
~Nick Swedberg
‘You form a bond’
When Joe Quin watched his son take the oath of induction into the Marine Corps this past summer, he felt like he was looking in the mirror. Joe Quinn IV joined the Corps at 17 years old, right out of high school, just like his father, a 13-year 10th District Beat Cop, did in 1996.
So the photo here of Joe IV taking the oath with the shadow of his father reflecting off his back casts the irony, legacy and symmetry this occurrence represents.
Military service runs deep in the Quinn family. Both of Joe’s grandpar- ents served in WW II; his grandmother was a sergeant in the WACs. But when watching his son take the oath, Joe felt something more passing on to his son.
“It’s got to be in your heart, just like the job,” Joe explained. “I loved every minute of it. The biggest thing is the camaraderie. It’s a band of brothers like they claim it to be, and I joined the police force to get that same feeling. Your form a bond with your unit and your district, and that’s why I’m a unit rep - to help pull our watches together.”
Quinn added that training on urban warfare and anti-terrorist tactics in the Corps has given him an edge as a cop. But there’s something else he learned in the military that he hopes gets passed down to Joe IV.
“I feel the sense of protecting and serving, of course, but my work ethic has been passed down from the Corps to this job,” he said. “And like all cops should, I told him that no matter what you do, the old man always has your back.”
~Mitchell Krugel
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CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ NOVEMBER 2015
ALLEN KORONKIEWICZ
JOE QUINN JOE QUINN IV