Mobile Memorial Honors Fallen Hometown, Chicago Heights, CPD Officers

HOMETOWN, IL — A 40-foot trailer that travels across the country honoring fallen police officers will be visiting Hometown this Sunday, Aug. 7. The mobile memorial will be parked at Hometown Plaza, 4140 Southwest Highway, at 10:30 a.m.

The End of Watch - Ride To Remember moving memorial is wrapped with photos of police officers killed in the line of duty the prior year. This is the fourth year that the EOW-Ride To Remember has crisscrossed the country, stopping in towns and cities that have suffered the loss of a first responder. The memorial is sponsored by Beyond the Call of Duty, a nonprofit organization in Tacoma, Wash.

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Among those officers whose pictures appear on EOW mobile memorial from 2021 will be Lt. James Kouski Jr., 58, a 34-year veteran of the Hometown Police Department. Kouski grew up in the Hometown co-ops. He was struck and killed by a drunken driver April 3, 2021, while investigating an unrelated traffic accident.

CPD Officer Ella Grace French is also honored on the mobile memorial. French, 29, was fatally shot conducting a traffic staff Aug. 7, 2021.

>>> Chicago Heights PO Gary Hibbs Celebrated With Tears and Salutes

The EOW-Ride To Remember will also be stopping by the Chicago Heights Police Department, 1601 S. Halsted St. at 8 a.m. Sunday. Officer Gary Hibbs, 58, collapsed while responding to a domestic call. Hibbs, a 24-year veteran police officer, died eight days later on March 12, 2021.

The mobile memorial's final stop is 1:30 p.m. Sunday, at the Chicago Police Department/Chicago FOP, 1407 W Washington Blvd, Chicago.