About 250 people gathered Saturday at St. Michael Missionary Baptist Church in West Garfield Park to remember Larry Neuman, a retired Chicago police officer and preacher who was killed last week.
The 73-year-old was found about 11:30 a.m. June 20 with multiple gunshot wounds in the 4300 block of West Monroe Street, Chicago police said. He was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.
Lazarious Watt, 16, and a 17-year-old have been charged in his death. The older suspect was in bond court Saturday as Neuman’s loved ones left the church he preached at to inter him at Oakridge Cemetery in Hillside.
While grief was certainly present, the service was largely a celebration of the 73-year-old’s legacy in multiple law enforcement agencies, the U.S. Marine Corps, his church and his community — in addition to being one of the first Black members of the CPD bomb squad and one of the longest-serving members of the team.
The church was filled beyond capacity Saturday, sending some into overflow seating and more than a dozen people standing along the back wall.
Lively gospel music was performed as several audience members stood to clap along — with CPD, TSA and other law enforcement agency officers seated between them. At the front of the room was Neuman’s casket, draped in a Chicago flag and surrounded by wreaths bearing the logos of several agencies he had worked for.
Pastor Paul Sims, who worked at St. Michael Missionary Baptist Church alongside Neuman, said while it was important to grieve Neuman, he also would’ve wanted everyone to recognize the “moment is bigger than this.”
“Two young lives have now entered into the judicial system and will be locked behind bars,” Sims said at the service. “That’s two more young people that we’ve lost. It’s time to take our streets back, it’s time to take our children back.”
He then asked those in the audience to consider a world where people “served each other like Larry Neuman did.”
“Let’s not just hold those young men accountable,” Sims said at the service. “He wouldn’t give you the shirt off his back, he’d take you to the store and buy you one. … He lost his life while saving somebody else’s life.”
Several officials also spoke at the service, including Ald. Jason Ervin (28) and U.S. Rep. Danny Davis (IL-7).
Ervin recalled the first time he saw the “trailblazing technician” in uniform at a Chicago Police Department event, remarking to his father, “I didn’t know Black folks did that.”
“On behalf of all of us, we owe Rev. Neuman, officer Neuman, a debt of gratitude for being here,” Ervin said at the service.
Ahead of the service, people streamed in, walking past several CPD vehicles and a bomb squad truck.
Anthony Davis Jr., a former O’Hare TSA agent, said he and Neuman connected over food. Davis, being a chef, often shared recipes with him — especially Neuman’s favorite to cook, goulash.
“We’d just bounce recipes off each other and I’d tell him what I cooked over the weekend,” Davis told the Sun-Times before the service began. “It was always nice to get your mind on something other than keeping people safe.”
The two saw each other “practically every day” for several years before Neuman was transferred to Midway Airport, but said in that time Neuman always had a smile on his face and often encouraged others to do the same.
“He was a great person, a positive person, a role model,” Davis said. “There was always something to smile about. That’s what he pushed — happiness.”
To carry on Neuman’s legacy, Davis said, “all I can tell anybody to do is to smile.”
Charles Jones, a South Side resident and retired member of CPD’s bomb squad, met Neuman in 2006 when he joined the team. Jones said Neuman was a “friend, mentor and big brother” to the whole team. In a “small field,” his knowledge was highly valued by others on the team, who would often ask him questions about the job.
Jones said others in CPD had tried to get Neuman to move out of the neighborhood, fearing for his safety, but Neuman refused to leave.
“Larry always helped everyone,” Jones said. “He just had more to give, he wasn’t done. His ministry wasn’t over.”