Hundreds pay final respects to Larry Neuman, retired police officer and pastor killed in West Garfield Park

Pastor Paul Sims asked the hundreds of people gathered Saturday morning at St. Michael Missionary Baptist Church in West Garfield Park to think about a world in which people “served one another the way Larry Neuman did.”

Neuman, a retired Chicago police officer — one of the longest-serving and first black members of the Chicago Police Department’s bomb squad, a Vietnam veteran, a former TSA agent and a pastor at St. Michael’s — was killed earlier this month when he tried to help a man and “keep him out of harm’s way,” police said, when they were approached by two teenagers with guns drawn.

“He wouldn’t give you the shirt off his back; he would take you to the store and buy you,” Sims said during the service, where about 250 people gathered to pay their last respects. “He lost his life saving someone else’s life.”

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. Sims said he had been driving to the church to discuss starting a job training program there, drawing on his past as a union plumber.

Lazarious Watt, 16, and Marquan Jones, 17, were charged in his death. On Saturday, Jones was ordered detained pending trial as Neuman’s loved ones left the church where he preached to be buried at Oakridge Cemetery in Hillside.

While mourning 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.

On Saturday, the church was filled to capacity, with some people sitting on overflow seats and a dozen or so people standing against the back wall.

The music was lively, and several members of the audience stood to applaud—among them were officers from the CPD, TSA, and other law enforcement agencies. At the front of the room stood Neuman’s casket, draped in a Chicago flag and surrounded by wreaths bearing the logos of several agencies he had worked for.

Sims, who worked with Neuman at St. John’s Missionary Baptist Church. Michael, said that while it was important to mourn Neuman, he also wished everyone understood that “the moment is more important than this.”

“Let’s not just hold these young men accountable. … Two young people are now in the criminal justice system and they’re going to be locked up behind bars,” Sims said. “That’s two more young people that we’ve lost. It’s time to take back our streets, it’s time to take back our children.”

Several officials also spoke at the service, including Ald. Jason Ervin (28th) and U.S. Rep. Danny Davis (Ill.).

Ervin recalled the first time he saw the “pioneer technician” in uniform at a Chicago police event, telling his father, “I didn’t know black people did that.”

“On behalf of all of us, we are grateful to Rev. Neuman, Officer Neuman, for being here,” Ervin said during the service.

Anthony Davis Jr., a former O’Hare TSA agent, said he and Neuman bonded over food. Davis, a chef, often shared recipes with him — especially Neuman’s favorite, goulash.

“We’d just trade recipes and I’d tell him what I’d cooked over the weekend,” Davis told the Sun-Times before the service began. “It was always nice to focus on something other than keeping people safe.”

The two saw each other “virtually every day” for several years before Neuman was transferred to Midway Airport. Davis recalled that Neuman always had a smiling face and often encouraged others to do the same.

“He was a great person, a positive person and a role model,” Davis said. “There was always a reason to smile. This is what he was striving for – happiness.”

Davis said that to continue Neuman’s legacy, “all I can tell anybody is to smile.”

Charles Jones, a South Side resident and retired member of the CPD bomb squad, met Neuman in 2006 when he joined the team. Jones said Neuman was a “friend, mentor and big brother” to the entire team. In the “small field” his knowledge was highly valued by other team members, who often asked him questions about his work.

Jones said other CPD officers tried to get Neuman to leave the neighborhood out of concern for his safety, but Neuman refused to leave.

“Larry always helped everyone,” Jones said. “He just had more to offer, and it wasn’t over yet. His ministry is not over.”