Sept. 19--Mourners gathered Saturday for the funeral of McHenry County sheriff's Deputy Dwight Maness, who died unexpectedly Monday of a blood clot while he was recuperating from gunshot wounds suffered while on duty last October.
Fred Spitzer, a retired Woodstock police officer, lives nearby and walked up to the visitation at Woodstock North High School, 3000 Raffel Road, pushing his 1-year-old granddaughter in a stroller. Spitzer knew Maness and last saw him at a fundraiser in his honor last year. He was shocked to hear of his death.
"This makes me sick. ... Makes me heartbroken," he said.
The public visitation for Maness, who was 47, ended about 12:30 p.m. at the high school. Mourners were asked to park at the McHenry County Government Center, 2200 N. Seminary Ave., where a shuttle was available to take people to the high school.
After a private service that began at 12:30 p.m. for family and public safety officials only, a funeral procession of public safety vehicles will cover a 31-mile route from Woodstock to McHenry, where Maness lived, and back to Woodstock for his burial at McHenry County Memorial Park Cemetery. Some streets in the area will be closed.
Lt. Pat Gengler from the Kane County Sheriff's Office, who was helping with Saturday's ceremonies, said Sue Maness will ride one of the motorcycles in the procession with a friend riding along with her on her husband's motorcycle. She and her husband both were avid riders.
Members of the Red Knights Motorcycle Club Illinois Chapter 12 paid their respects, though they'd never met Maness, who had said that he had been looking forward to the time when he could ride again. They came out of "professional respect," said Jeff Finn, the club's vice president.
"Our hearts go out to the families of these officers," Finn said.
Finn said the casket containing Maness' body dressed in his deputy uniform was flanked in the auditorium by honor guards. Crisp fall air blew through the nearby cornfields as dozens of motorcycles roared by and into the high school parking lot as police vehicles from area departments parked.
Members of the media were asked to stay on a grassy area outside the parking lot and to not approach people in the parking area.
Dozens of motorcycles drove through the parking lot and left as a way of paying their respects. They then returned to the Harley-Davidson on Route 47 in Woodstock, where one man said motorcycle clubs had gathered to do a benefit ride for Fox Lake police Lt. Charles Joseph Gliniewicz, who was shot and killed less than three weeks ago.
School buses and McHenry County sheriff's buses shuttled people from the high school to the government center.
Joe Alger of Crystal Lake stood at the parking lot entrance holding an American flag and saluting as cars entered. Alger, a member of the Warriors Watch Riders, did not know Maness but said he was there to honor the deputy as a war veteran and a police officer. He said this is important "particularly now when they are under attack more than ever."
Todd and Jan Hoover live nearby and rode up to the high school on their bicycles to pay their respects. The couple did not know Maness, but Jan Hoover's father was a police officer in Nebraska and the couple felt it was important to pay their respects to the fallen officer.
"Another loss," said Todd Hoover. "In simplest terms, this is just awful,"
He said these shootings are done by "people who are deranged ... who do not understand the magnitude of what they cause and the heartbreak they cause to the family and the community at large."
Maness was shot in the back and the leg after he was called to a home in Holiday Hills to check on a possible domestic disturbance just after 1 a.m. Oct. 16. The gunman, Scott Peters, was convicted of attempted murder and sentenced to 135 years in prison.
Peters, who opened fire on officers with an assault rifle, also shot Deputy Khalia Satkiewicz, who is still recovering from her wounds. Deputy Eric Luna, who was also on the call, exchanged fire with Peters but was not hurt.
In a recent interview with the Tribune, Maness said he had undergone multiple surgeries over the past 11 months but was making good strides in his recovery and looked forward to returning to work. Maness lamented the recent spate of shootings of law enforcement officials around the country, saying he was bothered by "the lack of respect ... society seems to have for police officers."
Maness died two weeks after the interview. Officials said he went into cardiopulmonary arrest during a rehabilitation session and was pronounced dead at just after 1:30 p.m. Monday at Centegra McHenry Medical Center. The McHenry County coroner's office determined he died of a blood clot in his lungs.
Calling Maness a "hero," McHenry County State's Attorney Louis Bianchi has said Peters could face a new charge of murder should Maness' death be found to be related to the wounds he suffered when Peters shot him.
Amanda Marrazzo is a freelance reporter.
