Daughter honors fallen officer at funeral: ‘It’s time for me to cover the shift’

Wiping away tears as she read her letter, Rebeca Marmolejo, the eldest daughter of Eduardo Marmolejo, told hundreds of officers, friends and family about the person she called her best friend, her coach and her father.

“I can still hear your voice,” the teen said. “You were always there no matter what, you were the glue that kept our family together, our strong foundation … Now that you’ve clocked out, it’s time for me to cover the shift. It’s my turn to be the bigger person, just like you. Daddy, you are one in a million and there is no one else like you.”

A day after laying Chicago Police Officer Conrad Gary to rest, officers of the department’s Calumet District and hundreds more returned to St. Rita of Cascia Shrine Chapel to pay their respects to his partner Marmolejo.

The officers were struck and killed by a South Shore Line train while pursuing a suspect on Monday, at the tail end of a year that has now seen four Chicago police officers killed in the line of duty.

The motorcade carrying Marmolejo’s remains arrived at the South Side church shortly after 11 a.m. Cardinal Blase Cupich led services.

Officers salute as remains of Eduardo Marmolejo enters the St. Rita of Cascia Shrine Chapel, Saturday, Dec. 22, 2018, in Chicago. | Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

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The remains of Officer Eduardo Marmolejo enters the St. Rita of Cascia Shrine Chapel, Saturday, Dec. 22, 2018, in Chicago. | Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

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The remains of Officer Eduardo Marmolejo enters the St. Rita of Cascia Shrine Chapel, Saturday, Dec. 22, 2018, in Chicago. | Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

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Police Supt. Eddie Johnson salutes as the remains of Officer Eduardo Marmolejo enters the St. Rita of Cascia Shrine Chapel, Saturday, Dec. 22, 2018, in Chicago. | Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

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Officers present arms as remains of Eduardo Marmolejo enters the St. Rita of Cascia Shrine Chapel, Saturday, Dec. 22, 2018, in Chicago. | Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

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A Chicago Police Officer comforts the mother of Eduardo Marmolejo as his remains arrives at St. Rita of Cascia Shrine Chapel, Saturday, Dec. 22, 2018. Marmolejo’s eldest daughter Rebeca stands center (gray coat).| Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

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Officers salute as remains of Eduardo Marmolejo enters the St. Rita of Cascia Shrine Chapel, Saturday, Dec. 22, 2018, in Chicago. | Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

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The hearse with the remains of remains Eduardo Marmolejo drives up the St. Rita of Cascia Shrine Chapel, Saturday, Dec. 22, 2018, in Chicago. | Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

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The casket for fallen Chicago police Officer Eduardo Marmolejo arrives at St. Rita of Cascia Shrine Chapel in Chicago at St. Rita of Cascia Shrine Chapel. | Abel Uribe/Chicago Tribune via AP

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Officers prepare for the funeral for fallen Chicago police Officer Eduardo Marmolejo at St. Rita of Cascia Shrine Chapel Abel Uribe/Chicago Tribune via AP

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Officer Eduardo Marmolejo’s family offers the gifts to Cardinal Blase Cupich as he leads the funeral mass for fallen Chicago police Officer Eduardo Marmolejo at St. Rita of Cascia Shrine Chapel. | Abel Uribe/Chicago Tribune via AP

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Police officers attend the funeral for Chicago police Officer Conrad Gary, Friday, Dec. 21, 2018 at St. Rita of Cascia Shrine Chapel in Chicago. | Abel Uribe/Chicago Tribune via AP, Pool

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Officer Eduardo Marmolejo’s family offers the gifts to Cardinal Blase Cupich as he leads the funeral mass for fallen Chicago police Officer Eduardo Marmolejo at St. Rita of Cascia Shrine Chapel in Chicago on Saturday. Abel Uribe/Chicago Tribune via AP

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Chicago police officers file out of St. Rita’s after the funeral for Eduardo Marmolejo, Saturday, Dec. 22, 2018, in Chicago. | Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

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Officers stand at attention outside St. Rita’s after the funeral for Officer Eduardo Marmolejo, Saturday, Dec. 22, 2018, in Chicago. | Tyler LaRiviere

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Governor Bruce Rauner (left), Mayor Rahm Emanuel (center) and Police Supt. Eddie Johnson (right) exit St. Rita’s after the funeral for Officer Eduardo Marmolejo, Saturday, Dec. 22, 2018, in Chicago. | Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

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Chicago Police Officers salute as the casket with the remains of Officer Eduardo Marmolejo exits St. Ritas, Saturday, Dec. 22, 2018, in Chicago. | Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

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Pall bearers carry the casket with the remains of Officer Eduardo Marmolejo out of St. Ritas, Saturday, Dec. 22, 2018, in Chicago. | Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

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Chicago Police Supt. Eddie Johnson salutes as pall bearers carry the casket with the remains of Officer Eduardo Marmolejo out of St. Ritas, Saturday, Dec. 22, 2018, in Chicago. | Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

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Pall bearers lift the Chicago flag that was draped over the casket Officer Eduardo Marmolejo, Saturday, Dec. 22, 2018, in Chicago. | Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

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Chicago Police Honor Guard give a 21 gun salute to Officer Eduardo Marmolejo, Saturday, Dec. 22, 2018, in Chicago. | Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

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A Chicago Police Officer plays taps as the casket of Officer Eduardo Marmolejo is loaded into the hearse, Saturday, Dec. 22, 2018, in Chicago. | Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

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Chicago Police Officers salute as the casket with the remains of Officer Eduardo Marmolejo exits St. Ritas, Saturday, Dec. 22, 2018, in Chicago. | Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

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Pall bearers fold the Chicago Flag that was draped over the casket of Officer Eduardo Marmolejo, Saturday, Dec. 22, 2018, in Chicago. | Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

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Chicago Police Supt. Eddie Johnson give the folded Chicago Flag to Mayor Rahm Emauel, Satruday, Dec. 22, 2018, in Chicago. | Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

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Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel gives the folded Chicago flag that was draped over the casket of Officer Eduardo Marmolejo to his wife Maria, Saturday, Dec. 22, 2018, in Chicago. | Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

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Officer Eduardo Marmolejo’s daughter holds that folded Chicago Flag that was draped over his casket, Saturday, Dec. 22, 2018, in Chicago. | Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

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The Marmolejo family watches as the pall bearers load Officer Eduardo Marmolejo’s casket into a waiting hearse, Saturday, Dec. 22, 2018, in Chicago. | Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

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Chicago Police Officers salute as the casket of Officer Eduardo Marmolejo is loaded into a waiting hearse, Saturday, Dec. 22, 2018, in Chicago. | Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

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Pall bearers march the casket Officer Eduardo Marmolejo into a waiting hearse, Saturday, Dec. 22, 2018, in Chicago. | Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

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Chicago Police Officers salute as the hearse with the remains of Officer Eduardo Marmolejo drives by, Saturday, Dec. 22, 2018, in Chicago. | Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

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Photos in the program for the services showed Marmolejo surrounded by family — with his wife at their wedding, at a White Sox game with friends, and standing with his parents at Navy Pier after his police academy graduation ceremony.

Marmolejo joined the force in April 2016. Before that he worked as a transporter at a hospital and worked his way up the ranks to become an ER technician.

Supt. Eddie Johnson said that exemplified Marmolejo’s selflessness and bravery.

He also promised Marmolejo’s family that they’d always have their extended police family to rely on.

“We mourn with you, we hurt with you, we cry with you, but know this: we’ll also begin healing with you,” Johnson said. “You are not alone … your extended Chicago police family will always be just one phone call, one text message away.”

Mayor Rahm Emanuel said Marmolejo, a proud son of Mexican immigrants, wanted to be a hero to his family and became a hero to Chicago.

“Just as his smile had the power to light up a room, his memory has the power to light up our city,” Emanuel said.

Marmolejo’s cousin Carlos Vences remembered the 36-year-old as someone who could “always bring a smile to your face, always make you laugh with a corny joke — and I mean really corny.

“This is about the hardest thing that life can hit us with right now, but I’m absolutely certain he’s with us right now,” Vences said. “He’s probably saying something like ‘don’t be sad little cuz, it’ll be alright.’”

The 36-year-old known as “Lalo” grew up on the city’s Southwest Side and previously lived in Evergreen Park. Friends said he married his high school sweetheart Maria, whom he leaves behind with three young daughters.

Friends and family remembered a humble, funny man with a penchant for sharing videos of his beloved dog.

“You were my boy, you were my big brother I never had, the brother you look up to …,” fellow officer Andres Lizarzaburo said. “The [police academy] was one of my greatest times of my life not because it was the beginning of our career, but because of the memories I created there, and most of them being with you.”

An online campaign to support Marmolejo’s family had raised over $60,000 as of Saturday morning.

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