Rich Kozik, State Trooper and Tinley Wish Co-Founder, Dies At 59

TINLEY PARK, IL — Illinois State Police lieutenant and co-founder of the charitable Tinley Wish program, Rich Kozik, died Tuesday. He was 59.

Kozik suffered a medical emergency at about 11 a.m. Feb. 6 and was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment, according to an online statement by the Illinois State Police Command Officers Association. He later died at the hospital, the update added.

"Lieutenant Kozik was the epitome of class, hard work, dedication, and charisma," stated a post on the Facebook page for ISP District 15, where Kozik was stationed. "His presence within District 15 and within the Illinois State Police will be greatly missed by all."

Funeral arrangements were still pending, ISP Master Sgt. Nick Hasan told Patch Wednesday. Once details are worked out, the state police will give Kozik a funeral with honors that includes representatives from federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, said Hasan, who worked with Kozik as a trooper and a reserve officer on the Tinley Park Police Department in the late 1990s.

Kozik joined the Illinois State Police around 1998, said Hasan, who followed him to the state police a year later. During his nearly 20-year ISP career, Kozik worked extensively with the 100 Club of Chicago, organizing numerous events for the group, which helps the families of first responders in Cook and Lake counties who died in the line of duty.

"His dedication to the law enforcement family was unparalleled, and his leadership of the ISP Motor Unit was admired by many," a memorial page for Kozik stated on the club's website. "Lieutenant Kozik will be deeply missed."

Along with his commitment to the 100 Club, Kozik also worked with the Illinois State Police Heritage Foundation and pushed for building a memorial wall to honor fallen state troopers.

"He's going to be a great loss for the law enforcement community," Hasan told Patch.

Kozik's death comes as a blow to the Tinley Park community, as well. Hasan described his colleague and friend's generosity as "second to none" and probably best exemplified by his work with Tinley Wish, a nonprofit program that helps disadvantaged families around the holidays.

Kozik and Dennis Mahoney, a part-time Tinley Park police officer at the time, created the initiative more than two decades ago as a way to give back to the community they called home. Each year the program gathers nominations for deserving families living in the village — the initiative's only requirement — from schools, churches and other other village groups and institutions, according to the Tinley Wish website. A committee then looks over those nominations and selects the families most in need of help around the holidays.

Tinley Wish, which operates through the Tinley Park Police Department, finds money to buy presents and offer other assistance from individual donations and various fundraisers throughout the year. The program's efforts are capped off with a convoy of village volunteers — dubbed "Tinley's Finest" — delivering the gifts to the selected families during a morning in December.

"Rich was an extraordinary human being who genuinely cared for people," a posting on the Tinley Wish Facebook page read. "He will be missed by so many."

Patch will continue to update this story.

Illinois State Police Lt. Rich Kozik (Photo by Kenneth Dixon Photography via 100 Club of Chicago)