OAK LAWN, IL — It was five years ago Sunday – Dec. 17 – when Chicago Police Officers Conrad Gary and Eduardo Marmolejo died in the line of duty chasing a shooting suspect who had gone on to the Metra tracks, when both officers were hit by a train.
Tim and Eileen Desmond, owners of Cork & Bean, 4931 W. 95th St., Oak Lawn, will be hosting a fundraiser in the officers’ memory Sunday, Dec. 17. From 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. ten percent of food and beverage sales will be donated to the Illinois Concerns of Police Survivors, which provides emotional and financial support to survivors of law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty so they can rebuild their lives.
S&T Provisions, 3804 W. 111th St., Chicago, will be selling fresh, hot individual pizzas. Attendees can also purchase various vouchers for cheese, sausage, gluten-free, mozzarella and pizza sauce set-ups ranging in price from $15 to $25. S&T will be donating a portion of pizza and voucher sales to Illinois COPS.
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Raffle baskets donated by area businesses, including the Whistle Sports Bar & Grill, Palermo’s 95th, Hogwild Oak Lawn, Birdies Sports Bar and Grill, Copper Top Oak Lawn, Primal Cut Steakhouse, Linx Security, Nikki Martin’s Scentsy, Mary Kocher’s handmade Irish Sweaters, Windy City Flower Girls, Connected By Tse Klesz, S& T Provisions, Hub Wines, Mimi’s Gemstone Candle and the Cork & Bean staff. Tickets are $1 or 6 for $5; there might also be a split-the-pit. The winner need not be present to win. Tickets will be pulled around 7 p.m.
Gary, 31, and Marmolejo, 36, were both fathers of young children and had been assigned to the 5th Chicago Police District, which had already suffered the loss of two officers who had taken their own lives. On Dec. 17, 2018, the man they were pursuing was arrested the same evening after both officers had been killed. He told police he found the gun on the tracks and was “testing” it when Shot Spotter picked up gunfire.
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Cork & Bean owner Eileen Desmond is the aunt of Gary’s wife, Kelly. Gary grew up in Oak Lawn and was a 2005 graduate of Oak Lawn Community High School. An Air Force veteran, Conrad and Kelly moved to Mount Greenwood when Gary joined the Chicago Police Department. He was with the police force for 18 months before his death.
Marmolejo, called “Lalo” by his family and friends, lived in West Beverly with his wife and three daughters. Prior to joining the Chicago Police Department, Marmolejo had been an emergency room technician at Advocate Christ Medical Center. He had been with the force for two years when he died in the line of duty. Marmolejo was a graduate of Reavis High School in Burbank, as was Gary’s wife.
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