God our Father,
Your power brings us to birth,
Your providence guides our lives,
and by Your command we return to dust.
Lord, those who die still live in Your presence,
their lives change but do not end.
I pray in hope for my family,
relatives and friends,
and for all the dead known to You alone.
In company with Christ,
Who died and now lives,
may they rejoice in Your kingdom,
where all our tears are wiped away.
Unite us together again in one family,
to sing Your praise forever and ever.
Amen.
Chicago cop was 'proud to be a police officer'
Sgt. Alan Haymaker died in a crash on Lake Shore Drive while answering a burglary call
February 22, 2010
By FRANK MAIN, STEFANO ESPOSITO and KIM JANSSEN Staff Reporters
A third-generation Chicago cop who was killed when his squad car crashed into a light pole shortly after 5 this morning along Lake Shore Drive north of Irving Park Road was responding to a burglary at the time of the crash, police say.
Sgt. Alan Haymaker, 56, was pronounced dead at 7:33 a.m. at Illinois Masonic Hospital after being pinned in the car. He was wearing a seatbelt, which firefighters cut away, police said.
Icy roads were likely a factor in the crash, which is being investigated by the Chicago Police Department’s Major Accidents Unit, police said.
Haymaker was a third-generation Chicago cop and had been with the department for 21 years, serving since December in the Town Hall district, Assistant Supt. James Jackson said.
“Words cannot express the sorrow we feel at his loss,” Jackson said.
Haymaker was the father of three daughters. He’d followed his grandfather, father and uncle into police work, which was “in his blood,” said his brother-in-law, Ron Vogelpohl.
Haymaker joined the Chicago Police Department after working as an assistant pastor at a former Evangelical church in Jefferson Park, and he brought a pastor’s sensitivity to his police work, Vogelpohl said.
“He treated his fellow officers and the public as human beings,” Vogelpohl said. “His religion was very important to him. He never forced it on anybody, but it came through in how he treated people, and it’s what made him such a great cop and great man.”
A keen guitarist and fan of classic rock, he “was proud to be a police officer,” Vogelpohl added.
On his classmates.com profile, a photo shows Haymaker posing with his guitar, and Haymaker wrote that his friends at Bogan High School would describe him as “the evenest of even keels.”
Haymaker’s neighbor Martha Baranowski, 91, tearfully remembered him as “a wonderful, wonderful man.” She said that when she fell sick while her family was out of town four years ago, Haymaker and his wife Elaine saved the day.
“I felt so sick, and I had nobody,” Baranowski said. “I didn’t want to call 911, and he offered to take me.”
Once they got to the hospital, “They wouldn’t leave me,” Baranowski said. “I said, ‘I’ll wait by myself,’ but they said ‘no.’ ”
The burglary Haymaker was responding to when he died was at Consolidated Communications, 3167 N. Clark, and one witness told police he saw two burglars, including one who smashed the store window, a police source said.
The business’s owner, David Lee, said that between 60 and 100 cell phones were stolen. He said he’d installed bulletproof windows after a similar burglary a year ago, but the burglars broke in through a door when they couldn’t get in through the glass.
He believes police were alerted by his alarm and a witness, who was waiting at a bus stop opposite. He expressed surprise that burglars would target such a busy spot, just yards from a 24-hour Starbucks.
A nearby security camera filmed the burglars’ van, he said.
“I feel sorry for that police officer,” Lee said. “This is just terrible.”
The burglary might be one of a series of “smash-and-grab” break-ins in the same area.
All southbound lanes of Lake Shore Drive were temporarily closed after the crash.
Chicago SunTimes http://is.gd/8XKfe
Officer killed in crash: 'Loved being a cop, proud being a cop'
February 22, 2010
Alan Haymaker did what his grandfather and father did before him: Worked the streets of Chicago as a police officer.
"He loved being a cop," his brother-in-law Ron Vogelpohl said. "He was proud of being a cop. I admired him.
"He knew his job was dangerous, but he didn't fear death," he added, explaining that Haymaker was deeply religious. "He was at peace with God."
Haymaker, a sergeant on the force for 21 years, was on his way to the scene of a burglary when he apparently lost control as he took the Irving Park exit off southbound Lake Shore Drive early this morning.
His squad car hit a tree and pole, pinning him, according to Asst. Police Supt. James Jackson. He died about 2 1/2 hours later. He was 56.
"Icy road conditions were a factor,'' Jackson said. "Words cannot express the sorrow we feel at his loss."
The officer's family was in shock this morning as they struggled to come to terms with his death. This weekend the family was supposed to celebrate Haymaker's oldest daughter's birthday.
Family and neighbors in his Portage Park neighborhood described him as a kind man who helped friends and strangers alike.
"He loved people," Vogelpohl said. "It didn't matter to him who you were. He cared about prostitutes and treated them as human beings.
"He always had a smile on his face," he continued. "He was a friendly guy and deep thinker." He was also an avid guitar player who loved classic rock.
Before he became a cop, he was an assistant pastor of an evangelical church in the Jefferson Park neighborhood. He had attended the Moody Bible Institute and Trinity Evangelical University.
Vogelpohl liked to call his brother-in-law the pastor police.
Haymaker was a very active member at Bethel Community Church at 7601 W. Foster Ave. and was heavily involved with the church's youth ministry, according to Pastor Paul Jorden, who said Haymaker "had a servant's heart."
Jorden said Haymaker often worked behind the scenes on various church activities and drove the church van taking Moody Bible Institute students to the church.
Jorden said Haymaker cared deeply for his fellow officers, family and friends and would often seek advice from Jorden on how to be a better person.
"He wanted to develop a solid spiritual and positive influence for other officers,'' said Jorden
The youth pastor for the church, Shawn Clarke, called Haymaker a "phenomenal person" who focused a lot of time and attention with the youth ministry program at the church where his youngest daughter was an active member.
Haymaker was at Sunday evening's youth ministry service, Jorden said. After the service -- where Jorden spoke of living your life for Jesus -- Haymaker told Jorden his sermon meant a lot to him, Jorden recalled.
"He always longed to be with Christ," said Jorden, who was with Haymaker's family and friends at the hospital this morning.
"I didn't think it would be the last time I'd see him. The suddenness of it all is hard to deal with," Jorden said as he stopped to let it sink in.
Albany Park District Cmdr. Mike Mealer said Haymaker had been a member of the Chicago Chapter of Fellowship of Christian Peace Officers since becoming a police officer.
Mealer, president of the group, said many religious police officers struggle to reconcile their faith with what they experience on the job. But Haymaker did not have that problem because he felt it was a "God-given opportunity to spread the gospel."
"A lot of people don't think you could be a good policeman and a Christian," Mealer said. "Al never hid his faith from anyone. He tried to make sure he was the best Christian witness he could be with the job he had. He felt God led him into circumstances during his job where he could be faithful to the community."
In their group meetings, the dangerous aspect of being a police officer would sometimes come up.
"There's always uncertainty in the assignment you're responding to," he said. "That you're going to wreak harm from the simplest things to the most complex things, a car accident or a shooting, that's something nobody foresees. He was ready at any time to be with Christ."
Sgt. Robert Dolan who worked alongside him in the Austin District, said Haymaker served as an good example to the young officers.
"He was a leader. He was a mentor to the young people,'' said Dolan.
Others remembered him as a devoted family man who talked about his family daily.
At Haymaker's Portage Park neighborhood, Barb Welch said she has known Haymaker and his family since they moved there more than 20 years ago. "He will be missed," she said.
Welch said Haymaker was "very devoted to his family, his God and his job." His three daughters range in age from 16 to 25.
Whenever Haymaker spoke about his job, he understood the dangers but he didn't let it stop him from helping people, Welch said. She said she was not surprised to find out he died answering a call.
"He gave his all for everything,'' she said. "He was a very serious man. He will be missed... It is a shame, it really is."
Haymaker's 91-year-old neighbor Martha Baranowski called him her "best friend in the whole world."
She recalled becoming sick a few years ago when her family was out of town.
"I felt so sick and I had nobody and I didn't want to call 911," she said. "He and his wife took me to the emergency room and stayed with me."
At the time of the crash, Haymaker was headed to the scene of a burglary at Consolidated Communications, a cell phone store at 3167 N. Clark, police said. The window had been smashed and phones taken.
The accident occurred at 5:06 a.m. and police closed all four southbound lanes, forcing traffic off at the Irving Park exit. As of 6:45 a.m., all but one lane had been reopened.
Haymaker was wearing a seat belt, according to Larry Langford, a Chicago Fire Department spokesman. It took firefighters about 30 minutes to extricate Haymaker, he said.
Haymaker was pronounced dead at 7:33 a.m. at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, according to the medical examiner's office.
Outside the hospital, at about 9:45 a.m., about two dozen officers saluted as Haymaker's body was carried out to Ambulance No. 6, followed by his three daughters and a son-in-law.
The ambulance was escorted to the morgue by about a dozen unmarked police cars carrying executive staff and commanders who had worked with him over the years.-
-- Carlos Sadovi, Annie Sweeney, Duaa Eldeib, and Daarel Burnette II
Your power brings us to birth,
Your providence guides our lives,
and by Your command we return to dust.
Lord, those who die still live in Your presence,
their lives change but do not end.
I pray in hope for my family,
relatives and friends,
and for all the dead known to You alone.
In company with Christ,
Who died and now lives,
may they rejoice in Your kingdom,
where all our tears are wiped away.
Unite us together again in one family,
to sing Your praise forever and ever.
Amen.
Chicago cop was 'proud to be a police officer'
Sgt. Alan Haymaker died in a crash on Lake Shore Drive while answering a burglary call
February 22, 2010
By FRANK MAIN, STEFANO ESPOSITO and KIM JANSSEN Staff Reporters
A third-generation Chicago cop who was killed when his squad car crashed into a light pole shortly after 5 this morning along Lake Shore Drive north of Irving Park Road was responding to a burglary at the time of the crash, police say.
Sgt. Alan Haymaker, 56, was pronounced dead at 7:33 a.m. at Illinois Masonic Hospital after being pinned in the car. He was wearing a seatbelt, which firefighters cut away, police said.
Icy roads were likely a factor in the crash, which is being investigated by the Chicago Police Department’s Major Accidents Unit, police said.
Haymaker was a third-generation Chicago cop and had been with the department for 21 years, serving since December in the Town Hall district, Assistant Supt. James Jackson said.
“Words cannot express the sorrow we feel at his loss,” Jackson said.
Haymaker was the father of three daughters. He’d followed his grandfather, father and uncle into police work, which was “in his blood,” said his brother-in-law, Ron Vogelpohl.
Haymaker joined the Chicago Police Department after working as an assistant pastor at a former Evangelical church in Jefferson Park, and he brought a pastor’s sensitivity to his police work, Vogelpohl said.
“He treated his fellow officers and the public as human beings,” Vogelpohl said. “His religion was very important to him. He never forced it on anybody, but it came through in how he treated people, and it’s what made him such a great cop and great man.”
A keen guitarist and fan of classic rock, he “was proud to be a police officer,” Vogelpohl added.
On his classmates.com profile, a photo shows Haymaker posing with his guitar, and Haymaker wrote that his friends at Bogan High School would describe him as “the evenest of even keels.”
Haymaker’s neighbor Martha Baranowski, 91, tearfully remembered him as “a wonderful, wonderful man.” She said that when she fell sick while her family was out of town four years ago, Haymaker and his wife Elaine saved the day.
“I felt so sick, and I had nobody,” Baranowski said. “I didn’t want to call 911, and he offered to take me.”
Once they got to the hospital, “They wouldn’t leave me,” Baranowski said. “I said, ‘I’ll wait by myself,’ but they said ‘no.’ ”
The burglary Haymaker was responding to when he died was at Consolidated Communications, 3167 N. Clark, and one witness told police he saw two burglars, including one who smashed the store window, a police source said.
The business’s owner, David Lee, said that between 60 and 100 cell phones were stolen. He said he’d installed bulletproof windows after a similar burglary a year ago, but the burglars broke in through a door when they couldn’t get in through the glass.
He believes police were alerted by his alarm and a witness, who was waiting at a bus stop opposite. He expressed surprise that burglars would target such a busy spot, just yards from a 24-hour Starbucks.
A nearby security camera filmed the burglars’ van, he said.
“I feel sorry for that police officer,” Lee said. “This is just terrible.”
The burglary might be one of a series of “smash-and-grab” break-ins in the same area.
All southbound lanes of Lake Shore Drive were temporarily closed after the crash.
Chicago SunTimes http://is.gd/8XKfe
Officer killed in crash: 'Loved being a cop, proud being a cop'
February 22, 2010
Alan Haymaker did what his grandfather and father did before him: Worked the streets of Chicago as a police officer.
"He loved being a cop," his brother-in-law Ron Vogelpohl said. "He was proud of being a cop. I admired him.
"He knew his job was dangerous, but he didn't fear death," he added, explaining that Haymaker was deeply religious. "He was at peace with God."
Haymaker, a sergeant on the force for 21 years, was on his way to the scene of a burglary when he apparently lost control as he took the Irving Park exit off southbound Lake Shore Drive early this morning.
His squad car hit a tree and pole, pinning him, according to Asst. Police Supt. James Jackson. He died about 2 1/2 hours later. He was 56.
"Icy road conditions were a factor,'' Jackson said. "Words cannot express the sorrow we feel at his loss."
The officer's family was in shock this morning as they struggled to come to terms with his death. This weekend the family was supposed to celebrate Haymaker's oldest daughter's birthday.
Family and neighbors in his Portage Park neighborhood described him as a kind man who helped friends and strangers alike.
"He loved people," Vogelpohl said. "It didn't matter to him who you were. He cared about prostitutes and treated them as human beings.
"He always had a smile on his face," he continued. "He was a friendly guy and deep thinker." He was also an avid guitar player who loved classic rock.
Before he became a cop, he was an assistant pastor of an evangelical church in the Jefferson Park neighborhood. He had attended the Moody Bible Institute and Trinity Evangelical University.
Vogelpohl liked to call his brother-in-law the pastor police.
Haymaker was a very active member at Bethel Community Church at 7601 W. Foster Ave. and was heavily involved with the church's youth ministry, according to Pastor Paul Jorden, who said Haymaker "had a servant's heart."
Jorden said Haymaker often worked behind the scenes on various church activities and drove the church van taking Moody Bible Institute students to the church.
Jorden said Haymaker cared deeply for his fellow officers, family and friends and would often seek advice from Jorden on how to be a better person.
"He wanted to develop a solid spiritual and positive influence for other officers,'' said Jorden
The youth pastor for the church, Shawn Clarke, called Haymaker a "phenomenal person" who focused a lot of time and attention with the youth ministry program at the church where his youngest daughter was an active member.
Haymaker was at Sunday evening's youth ministry service, Jorden said. After the service -- where Jorden spoke of living your life for Jesus -- Haymaker told Jorden his sermon meant a lot to him, Jorden recalled.
"He always longed to be with Christ," said Jorden, who was with Haymaker's family and friends at the hospital this morning.
"I didn't think it would be the last time I'd see him. The suddenness of it all is hard to deal with," Jorden said as he stopped to let it sink in.
Albany Park District Cmdr. Mike Mealer said Haymaker had been a member of the Chicago Chapter of Fellowship of Christian Peace Officers since becoming a police officer.
Mealer, president of the group, said many religious police officers struggle to reconcile their faith with what they experience on the job. But Haymaker did not have that problem because he felt it was a "God-given opportunity to spread the gospel."
"A lot of people don't think you could be a good policeman and a Christian," Mealer said. "Al never hid his faith from anyone. He tried to make sure he was the best Christian witness he could be with the job he had. He felt God led him into circumstances during his job where he could be faithful to the community."
In their group meetings, the dangerous aspect of being a police officer would sometimes come up.
"There's always uncertainty in the assignment you're responding to," he said. "That you're going to wreak harm from the simplest things to the most complex things, a car accident or a shooting, that's something nobody foresees. He was ready at any time to be with Christ."
Sgt. Robert Dolan who worked alongside him in the Austin District, said Haymaker served as an good example to the young officers.
"He was a leader. He was a mentor to the young people,'' said Dolan.
Others remembered him as a devoted family man who talked about his family daily.
At Haymaker's Portage Park neighborhood, Barb Welch said she has known Haymaker and his family since they moved there more than 20 years ago. "He will be missed," she said.
Welch said Haymaker was "very devoted to his family, his God and his job." His three daughters range in age from 16 to 25.
Whenever Haymaker spoke about his job, he understood the dangers but he didn't let it stop him from helping people, Welch said. She said she was not surprised to find out he died answering a call.
"He gave his all for everything,'' she said. "He was a very serious man. He will be missed... It is a shame, it really is."
Haymaker's 91-year-old neighbor Martha Baranowski called him her "best friend in the whole world."
She recalled becoming sick a few years ago when her family was out of town.
"I felt so sick and I had nobody and I didn't want to call 911," she said. "He and his wife took me to the emergency room and stayed with me."
At the time of the crash, Haymaker was headed to the scene of a burglary at Consolidated Communications, a cell phone store at 3167 N. Clark, police said. The window had been smashed and phones taken.
The accident occurred at 5:06 a.m. and police closed all four southbound lanes, forcing traffic off at the Irving Park exit. As of 6:45 a.m., all but one lane had been reopened.
Haymaker was wearing a seat belt, according to Larry Langford, a Chicago Fire Department spokesman. It took firefighters about 30 minutes to extricate Haymaker, he said.
Haymaker was pronounced dead at 7:33 a.m. at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, according to the medical examiner's office.
Outside the hospital, at about 9:45 a.m., about two dozen officers saluted as Haymaker's body was carried out to Ambulance No. 6, followed by his three daughters and a son-in-law.
The ambulance was escorted to the morgue by about a dozen unmarked police cars carrying executive staff and commanders who had worked with him over the years.-
-- Carlos Sadovi, Annie Sweeney, Duaa Eldeib, and Daarel Burnette II
Chicago Tribune http://is.gd/8XM48
Be a haymaker.
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