Family, Friends & Fellow Officers Remember...

Officer Walsh,

First of all, it’s been a long year for a lot of people and I am sure that it all culminated this weekend. I’m glad to see the positive things that are written on this site and I hope it keeps up for some time. I’m sure this site is a help to a lot of people. I wince slightly every time that I look at it because whenever there is a new post, there is another reminder of what we lost when you passed away. It is also another person who has shared a good time or a memory that everyone can reflect on and hopefully smile and feel a little better.

I for one didn’t get to know you for very long, and frankly, when we first met I didn’t trust what you were saying to me. I thought you were just holding the party line when you told me the virtues of being a police officer. Oddly enough, you tried again, so you probably got the impression that I didn’t believe you. You were the most genuine police officer that I ever met. At first I thought, “how can I ever expect to be like this guy?” I had a huge respect for your cheerfulness, your demeanor, your courage, and your professionalism. You gave me encouragement and a deeper respect for law enforcement. Even though I never joined you on the street, you still deeply affected my life and hearing of your loss devastated me.

One year ago Saturday we lost you, and one year ago tomorrow I sat down with my wife and told her that it was time for me to go back to law enforcement. The thought still crosses my mind, “how can I ever expect to be like this guy?” It is usually followed by the answer “you can’t”. I can however try to do my best to live by your example. To believe in what I am doing, to give it my all, and to keep focus on the things that are truly important. Most of all though, you were not just another cop, and I think that every officer should focus on being more than that as well.

I wish that I could say that I have had success in my pursuits, but one year later I have not. That doesn’t mean that I will stop trying, nor does it mean that I am the only one that you have inspired to follow your path. I am sure that the stories shared by your friends, and sites like this have given many others the resolve to join this noble profession. Every time someone gets to answer the question “what’s with the ribbon/bracelet/bumper sticker/license plate?” they can be told about who you were and why you were special. I know that I’ve gotten the chance to answer this question several times and I do so with great pride.

I hope that everyone who misses you can find peace in knowing that your memory is so vital. I hope that your family and friends have found comfort and I hope that your brothers in blue are able to feel your presence when they are on the job so they can be at their best as well.

Nick Forster
Husband of Kate Forster JPD MIS

August 22, 2005

You have not been forgotten and are a true hero. Watch over your family and brother and sister officers.

Bob Gordon, father of fallen Chicago Officer Michael P. Gordon, EOW: 8/8/04

Bob Gordon

August 21, 2005

Yesterday night I was at work. I t was the last place that I wanted to be. I wanted so badly to be home with everyone else, remembering you. Sometimes I'm so afraid that I will forget something. Of course, I wasn't in the best of spirits. But a friend of mine was there, and while he couldn't understand what I was feeling, he did offer some great insight. He told me that yesterday I was doomed to be stuck in the past, unless I otherwise chose. That there are certain days in our lives that we connect to a memory of the past that we just can't let go. The only thing that we can try to do is to focus on the present to help us get through those rough days. He was right. Not that I didn't want to think about you all day, but turning my attention to a little laughter around me was helpful...if I couldn't reminisce with everyone back home. And I know that is what you would have wanted me to do....so, thanks for the advice! Sometimes, little parts of you can be seen through the faces and words of others. I saw it a lot in some of your friends while I was home...and that feels good. I miss you Jon. But I know that you are still around.

-Tiff :)

Tiffany Tapella

August 21, 2005

Jon, it's been a yr and a hard year. I look up to you and have only good things to say about you. I missed the times at Hero's and Legends... good times... You are a reason that I am still wanting to be a police officer. I hope I can become a man of honor like yourself and wear the bagde with pride. I will never forget you 305...

Joseph Cockream (former JPD Cadet)
Joliet Police Department

August 20, 2005

Jon, I feel so weird coming to this site to write to you. It doesn't feel possible to have been a year. You always feel around though! Miss you more and more everyday!

A friend

August 20, 2005

I never knew you Officer Walsh. But I was heartbroken by your story exactly one year ago. I sought out your name on The Wall to honor you in Washington DC last May. I remember you today and salute you Jon, for your loss is still felt across the nation.

I will never forget!

Friend of Mark Sawyers EOW 6-5-04
SHPD, Michigan

August 20, 2005

Jon, I can hardly believe it's been a year already. Where do I start... well first, I'm sorry that it's taken me a year to say something to you in print. You know that Im forever talking to you in my prayers and in just my daily thoughts. ....and God knows how may times I've brought your name and memory up to friends, family, and even strangers. Me and Brad must have talked about you a hundred times this past weekend in Miami. Don't worry.... I brought my A-game, you would have been proud. I'm determined not to let the things you did and the things we did, go unannounced, and just fade away as a distant memory. You're still the one major topic of conversation that comes up every time people get together. Jon Walsh stories area alive and well!
Jon, on a sad not, you would be shocked at some of the horrible things that people have done and said to one another in your memory. Jon, you know I am not perfect either. I just keep reminding myself that you were not only a gift to me and my family, but to each and every person that you met. But in the same breath, I know you have seen such great acts of selfless love done in your memory and because of you. There have been so many people that have stepped up and been kinder and more loving than you or I could ever have imagined.
You'd be pleased knowing that the good that I, and others have done during this painful year, has far outweighed the bad. Just in my case, I have learned to smile more, tell my friends and family how much they mean to me, and certainly to take more pictures of them. I learned that the hard way in our case, when i realized how few pictures I have of us. However, some of the things we did probably are better off not being on film! I have seen more people treat each other the way we should have been treating each other all along. People are more sincere, show affection more often, and really seem to go out of their way to show each other how much they mean to one another. I know in my heart that your death and how that has made so many of us cherish the time we have, and cherish the people we have in our lives, is your ongoing gift to us.
Jon, thank you for being so kind. Thank you for being the kind of person that we should all aspire to be. Thank you for the times we spent together and for the memories I have of you. Jon, and most of all, thank you for being my friend. I love you and i miss you so much.

Paul Rodriguez
Joliet P.D.

August 20, 2005

One year later and you are truly missed, never to be forgotten.

August 20, 2005

My Beautiful Boy,
I never knew how much somebody could be missed until now. I know you are able to feel all of the love (and still so much sadness) that is here on Earth all for you, what a feeling that must be.
At this very moment I am sitting here looking at your picture...my heart feels heavy, butterflies are going crazy in my stomach and I am trying to fight back the tears and still wondering "WHY?"!
It is an unbelievable feeling still to know that you have been gone from us for a year. It still seems like yesterday that you drove by the house with that smile as the kids ran down the sidewalk yelling "HOLLYWOOD!!!!!" and waving! They, too, miss you and still ask about you all of the time. You have touched so many hearts and it is still so evident.
I have to tell you, I seem to run in to your mom and dad quite often at the grocery store. One that seems to stand out the most, the Saturday before Easter I ran to Sears to get Julian a new tie and on my way out your parents were walking in. We chatted briefly, they were finishing up some last minute shopping and I was rushing to get home and finish coloring Easter eggs with the kids, hugged, wished each other Happy Easter and went on our way. As I was walking out to the car my breath was taken away, I stopped dead in my tracks and could not move. Right next to my car was your truck...for an instant I just new you were there. I regained my composure got in my car and called Larry. It was just a very surreal moment. You pop up at the most unexpected times and that is what helps me, helps all of us to know that you are just fine. Keep suprising us Jon please don't ever stop. Larry sees you riding along side of him ever once in a while in his squad and that is comforting to me knowing you are watching over him, as well as the rest of the boys and girls.
Today will be hard for so many of us, it is an empty day, not a day we want to endure but I know when we are all together tonight you will be there with us as always. Hold us up and keep us strong...there will be tears, lots of them, and most definitely laughter talking about all of the wonderful, crazy, silly (must I go on) things that you've done. Jon be there for us as you have been the past year, most importantly help our boys get through today and I know everything will be fine.
I miss you terribly and I love you even more. You are ALWAYS on my mind and in my heart.
Bye for now my beautiful boy...sweet dreams!

Amanda Brooks
JPD Wife

August 20, 2005

Jon,
It's been 1 year today since you left us. Sometimes it's been o.k. and sometimes it's been really hard. I think about you all the time, and I know so does everyone else. I look at my job differently now. I'm easier on the older officers and tough on the new officers. I really think of all of them as my brothers and sisters and try and protect them as much as I can. This year has been the hardest of my 13 years on the job. Your family are always in my thoughts and especially today they will be. Pray for all of us Jon as we try to make it through today. As always, forever in my heart.....I miss you 305!!!

Mary Schu
Joliet PD

August 20, 2005

1 year...365 days..8760 hours...525600 seconds since you've been gone.
1 devestating phone call...13 minute drive to the hospital... 35 friends,family, police officers, firemen, and paramedics bowed heads swollen eyed... 1 split second I knew I'd lost you forever....
100's of sleepless nights...1000's of tears...Lifetime of memories...0 regrets...

Jon----
My love, you have now been away from me one year. One entire year...and what a year of emotions it has been. I'm trying my best to stay strong because I know that you would not want me to be sad. There are so many ways that you have impacted my life in the short time that we spent together. So many wonderful memories...when I first met you, you driving along side of me in your black mustang trying to get me to roll down my window to give me your number, to when you ran by my work, to our first date and the butterflies after our first kiss, to the thousands of sweet voicemails you left me everyday, to the day you first said I love you, to the many nights cuddling watching movies, to the three weeks of hell when I finished my practicals at the hospital, to when you asked me to move in with you, to our vacation to Miami you planned for me, to the roses you sent me to work just because, the sweet notes you left on the kitchen counter to tell me how much you loved me, to the hours you spent playing SOCOM on the playstation, yelling at the players as if they were real, to the walks to Oberweis for icecream, to you cooking me dinner, to watching you spend 20 minutes making sure your hair was perfect and then another 25 minutes trying to find the right clothes to wear, to you looking at me everynight whispering in my ear "i love you, tris". These are the memories of you Jon that keep me going. Remembering you for who you were everyday, how special and sweet you were behind closed doors, the person I loved everyday while you were here, and the person I will continue to love everyday that you're not. Jon, you were an amazing person and even though this year has been so lonely here without you, I'd never ask you to come back. You are where you deserve to be with God earning your wings and watching over all of us with that gorgeous smile. I love you.
Your girl,
Tris

Tristen

August 20, 2005

Jon-well I can say it's been a full year, and so can many other people but this tradgedy seems as tho it happend only a month or so ago. I know that you are still looking down on everyone you loved or that loved you and I want to thank you for that. I know that you did help Tristen through everything and that you pulled your family and friends right along to. You were a wonderful man and had so much potential in your life. Everyone including me miss you soo much. I know that you are still with us every day. Not physically but mentally. And I just wanted to let you know that I was thinking about you and how much I miss you. But I have to go. I love you!
love always,
Ashly
I miss you Hollywood!

Ashly -Tristens sister

August 19, 2005

john, today i put your memorial license plate on my car. tomorrow we will wake up and remember that 1 year ago you were taken away(and it really just seems like 10 years). we'll go out to different places and hoist a few pints and share some memories. hopefully no one will get too sad- we know you'd want us to have a good time and share only good memories. proud to have a 305 on my license plates....hope millions of people see these plates on all our cars and remember what exactly we do every day-then think a little higher of us!!!!!

August 19, 2005

Wow. Wow. This word seems to be constantly in my head these days. I just can't believe that we have been without you for one year. Still, it's so hard to think that you are gone. I went home to visit recently, and of course, I stopped by to see you a couple times and bring you flowers. The grass still hasn't grown in completely....no evidence that a year has passed already. You are still so alive everywhere in Joliet. Your picture is everywhere you look, and all over the community there are ribbons on cars, bracelets on arms....no one has forgotten you for a second. Being home, it was great to be able to see everyone, and remember some good Hollywood stories! I laughed so much...it was great! You really left your imprint on the hearts of so many people. I think the worst thing that I had to do while I was home was go to the florist to place an order for flowers for your grave tomorrow. I think I must have stared at the little card for an hour trying to figure out what to write on it...I wished I didn't have to. Being away, I don't see much of anyone anyway, so when I was in town I kept waiting to see you out with the rest of your friends. I wasn't used to seeing the boys out without you..that was hard. Very surreal. I wish that I could be there tomorrow with everyone else to remember and honor you...to share stories, laughs, and tears. It's difficult to not have someone here to share that with. But I will say a prayer for you and think about you all day. You were such a wonderful friend to me, and still an inspiration. I love you and I miss you. Please give everyone the strength tomorrow that they will need so much to make it through a day that is filled with so much pain. You'll never be forgotten by anyone...not even for a moment.

Tiffany

August 19, 2005

I can't believe it has been a year since I've seen you smile, heard you laugh, or given you a hug. I miss seeing you with "the boys." But I know you are watching over all of us, and protecting us from above. I feel blessed to have known you, and lucky to have been your friend. I don't think I will ever understand why you were chosen to leave so soon, but there must have been a greater job for you to do in Heaven. Thank you for all the wonderful memories you have left me with. Rest in peace Jon.

Nichole
friend

August 19, 2005

Tomorrow is the one year anniversary and we want to celebrate Jon's life and all that he means to us. He may not be here physically, but we carry a piece of him in our hearts. What a wonderful gift it was to have had him in our lives.

Jon really loved being an officer, especially at JPD. His enthusiasm to go to work each day is summed up by "Whatcha got for me?" That makes me smile. It was always a great time when he would tell us stories of his 'adventures' at work and how much he loved it.

Nothing can take away the ache of not having Jon here, but there is peace and hope and comfort...knowing that the moment I close my eyes here on earth, the very next second I will be in the Kingdom of Heaven seeing and talking to Jon. It's comforting and exciting to know he is there waiting for me.

Be sure to take some time this weekend, remembering the one year anniversary of Jonathan's death, but also remember the 27 years of his life. I'm sure there will be many stories told, tears shed, and lots of laughter shared this weekend. Also remember that life is short. Take time to make a phone call, write a letter, spend a little time with someone and maybe mend a fence or two. And the most important thing we can do, is to know for sure where we will spend eternity. Jon knew, and now he waits for us.

Thanks is not enough for all love and compassion you have shown to my mom & dad and my sister and me. Love you guys!!

Lisa Kralik

Lisa Kralik
Jonathan's sister

August 19, 2005

Jon-
I have been thinking a lot lately about the last time we spoke and the crazy Karaoke night at Double J's. It is still hard for me to understand why a few days later you were taken from us. Tomorrow is going to be really rough for a lot of people. I know you are happy and at peace, but I struggle every single day to understand why God chose you. They say only the "Good Die Young", and I have to say I now agree. You were one of the best Jon, and so many people admired you.
The happiness you brought into my life for the short period of time I knew you will never be forgotten. You were a part of my life for a reason, and I thank God for that. I know tomorrow I will struggle to put a smile on my face, but I will do it for you. I have been so blessed to have been a part of your life. The memories I have of you will last a lifetime. I know someday we will meet again.....
Jenna

Jenna Crowther

August 19, 2005

Officer Walsh....please know that you - your family - friends & co-workers are in my thoughts & prayers as we come up on the 1 year anniversary of your untimely death....continue to watch over them & your fellow brothers/sisters in blue....YOU WILL NEVER BE FORGOTTEN SIR....REST IN PEACE & WITH EASE BLUE ANGEL!!!!

girlfriend of a leo

August 19, 2005

Rest in Peace.

August 18, 2005

Jon,
I have thought about you every day since that tragic day one year ago. I know that you are in heaven, but it is still so hard to understand why this happened to you. You and I had a good time in all of our criminal justice classes in college- you always made me laugh! I remember how excited you were to become a cop.... We had a great time hanging out with eachother back then. Then you went to JPD and I went into corrections for the county, and I next saw you in the ADF booking area, funny as you ever were. You always thought it was so funny to have the booking officers call me to do a pat down whenever you had a crazy female prisoner to bring in! Right after I left the department, you had your accident. I think back to those days in college when we talked about all of our dreams. Yesterday I found an old letter you had written me, and it broke my heart. Words cannot express how sorry I am for you, your family, and your friends. Thank you Jon, for watching over all of us.....I will never forget you...

Mindy

August 18, 2005

I can't believe it has almost been a year since you left us. I will never get the image of your funeral out of my head, all the officers lined up with tears rolling down their cheeks was heartbreaking. You were loved by so many people and even those who didn't know you fell in love with the stories of you! They always say that only the good die young and now I understand why. I pray for God to watch over your family as this year passes and I hope they find comfort in knowing how much we all love and miss you. Keep watching over us hollywood!

officers wife
jpd

August 11, 2005

I can remember sitting on the couch like it was yesterday ... the 10 o'clock news was playing on channel 7 and yours was the lead story. Because they hadn't gotten the ok to release your name - they just said a Joliet police officer. We knew ONE Joliet police officer - YOU.

He was getting ready for his midnight shift and we both saw the clip of the accident and for a fleeting second we thought of you - and then quickly dismissed it. He was leaving in a couple of minutes for work and we both knew that if we said anything about you - there was the remotest posiblity it could be you -

That night while I slept - all your friends in all those department spread the word like wildfire that you died in the line of duty and befor e I could ask him the next morning - he called to tell me the terrible news ... it was true.

Now, looking at the year anniversary - it still isn't real.

I don't care what city or state or juristiction the police work in - it's all the same - and as a wife of a policeman - not a day goes by when I don't worry about what happened that Friday night - almost a year ago.

Jon - your in my thoughts - once in a while I go out to the cemetary just to talk to you - but I know your not there - your in heaven - and like it or not - I need you to watch out for my husband and all the other husbands and relatives who watch the TV and pray that they never have to see another tragic death.

You are the man legends are made of and my husband and I still laugh when he tells those stories about the academy - or being on the street - your heart and smile are a light that we will keep with us forever.

You touched so many lives ... thank you and know that your stories will live on.

Love and Prayers.

August 3, 2005

"When one man dies, one chapter is not torn out of the book, but translated into a better language"

One year will soon be approaching. I miss the good times, your laugh, and your wink. Stay close as we need your strength more than ever.

To the Walsh Family - You are in my prayers every single day. May God Bless each one of you.

Joliet, IL

July 25, 2005

Jon- It's very hard to say that next month will be one whole year that you haven't been with us. I miss going to your house with Tristen and being scared to sleep in your bed because I didn't want you to get mad. I loved staying at your house. I felt so at home. I got a picture from Trit, you took it for us. It was on Easter Morning and we were infront on your stairs. You also said me and her look alike, which I hope we do because she is beautiful. I can see why you love her. I remember when you and Tristen had to take me home that morning. I still remember the song you sang. It was by Jennifer Lopez. The "I'm feeling sexy, tonight im all yours." i still remember how you sang it and everything. But now I have to go. I miss you alot and I know that you miss everyone.
Please keep watching over everyone.
I love you! and I miss you!
Ashly

Ashly-Tristens sister

July 24, 2005

TIME IS NOT MEASURED BY THE YEARS

Time is not measured by the years that you live, but by the deeds that you do and the joy that you give. And Each day as it comes brings a chance to each one to love to the fullest, leaving nothing undone, that would brighten the life or lighten the load of some weary traveler lost on life's road. So what does it matter how long we may love, if as long as we live, we unselfishly give?

WE MISS YOU SO MUCH HOLLYWOOD!

July 21, 2005