Trooper Albin buried with full honors after two days of tributes

Posted on July 6, 2017

 

Pallbearers carry Trooper Ryan Albin’s flag-draped casket at his funeral on Thursday.  (Photo courtesy of news partner WCIA-TV.)

 

 

By Howard Packowitz

FARMER CITY – Illinois State Police Trooper Ryan Albin was laid to rest Thursday after a funeral at Blue Ridge High School in Farmer City, where he graduated in 1998.

Albin, from State Police District 6 in Pontiac, was killed last week when his squad car collided with a truck near a construction zone on I-74 near Farmer City.

Law enforcement from across the country came to honor Albin. McLean County State’s Attorney Jason Chambers, who attended the funeral, said on his Facebook page that he saw first responders from Indiana, Iowa, North Carolina, Minnesota, New York, Texas, and New Mexico.

“I liked Ryan,” Chambers said. “He wanted to protect and serve.”

In his eulogy, State Police Director Leo Schmitz said, “Over and over again, he worked to make a difference to positively impact the citizens of Illinois.”

Schmitz said, “It will take time to heal. It will take time to rebuild, but Ryan would want us to carry on.”

The public was asked to line the route of the funeral processsion from Farmer City to Bellflower, where Albin was raised and where he was buried with full honors.

Howard Packowitz can be reached at [email protected]

Blogs

Labor Day – Expanding voting rights for all

By Mike Matejka Because of COVID, there is no Labor Day Parade this year.  It’s always a great event for our everyday workers to march proudly down the street and enjoys the festive crowd. If there had been a parade, this year’s Labor Day theme was to be “150 years of struggle: your right to vote.” …

Is federal mobilization the answer?

By Mike Matejka As President Donald Trump threatens to send federal marshals into Chicago, over the objections of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, recall another Illinois Governor who protested the incursion of armed federal personnel into the city.   Those federal troops, rather than calming, escalated the situation, leading to deaths and violence. Illinois poet Vachel Lindsay…

In these troubled times, to my fellow white Americans

By Mike Matejka Our nation is at a unique watershed in human relations. African-Americans have been killed too many times in the past before George Floyd, but the response to this man’s death is international and all-encompassing. I was a grade-schooler during the Civil Rights 1960s. I watched Birmingham demonstrators hosed and the Selma – Montgomery…

Workers’ Memorial Day – Remember those whose job took their life

Looking around our community, when we say employer, most will respond to State Farm, Country, or Illinois State University.   We too often forget those who are building our roads, serving our food, or our public employees. COVID-19 has made us more aware of the risk.  Going to work every day for some people means…