Names of 3 officers killed in line of duty added to Gold Star Families Memorial

Samuel Jimenez. Conrad Gary. Eduardo Marmolejo.

In a solemn ceremony Thursday afternoon, each name was added to the granite wall beside the lake at Gold Star Families Memorial in Burnham Park.

Their names joined 582 others — all Chicago police officers who died in the line of duty.

“These men died as heroes, running toward danger that most people would run away from,” Police Supt. Eddie Johnson said. “Today, their names are surrounded by fellow police officers who made the same decision.”

Officer Jimenez was killed in November when a gunman fatally shot him and two others at Mercy Hospital in Bronzeville. Officers Gary and Marmolejo were killed a month later, struck by a train on the Far South Side as they responded to reports of gunfire.

Each officer had followed a different path to service, Mayor Rahm Emanuel said.

Officer Jimenez grew up in Logan Square and had emerged as a strong leader in the department. Officer Gary served the nation with the U.S. Air Force overseas before returning home to serve his city. Officer Marmolejo grew up in the Back of the Yards and worked in the emergency room at Christ Hospital before joining the department.

The families of the officers stood before the memorial wall, holding each other tightly, with some dabbing their eyes as bagpipes wailed “Amazing Grace.”

They were more than just police officers, the mayor said. They were sons and husbands and fathers.

Of their young children, Emanuel said: “Let us ensure that their fathers are not just memories. That they are not just pictures in a frame on a mantel. But that they know the full measure of who their fathers were.”

Afterwards, several of their children children ran and played on the steps of the park, and their laughter filled the air.