Manhattan man was a caring cop

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Justin Honeycutt, of Manhattan, was a Bourbonnais police officer. | Submitted photo

Updated: February 17, 2012 8:19AM

Bourbonnais police officer Justin Honeycutt, 27, of Manhattan, loved kids so much that, at his brother’s wedding, he spent most of his time entertaining the 7 year old ring bearer.

“At Justin’s funeral, his brother Jeff showed the boy one of Justin’s bullets,” said Nancy Honeycutt, Justin’s mother. “The boy tucked it inside Justin’s pocket and said, ‘Now you can go to heaven and protect God.’”

Justin’s brother’s dedicated service as a Kankakee police officer inspired him to study law enforcement in school and he tackled his training with fierce determination.

“The change in him was unbelievable. He wanted that job so badly,” Nancy said. “He passed all his tests with flying colors.”

As an officer, Justin was known for his caring compassion for others and was commended for his especially sensitive handling of an accident that involved an elderly woman. Justin simply told the woman’s husband that he only treated her the way he expected others to treat his own grandmother.

“Some of the other guys on the force could be tougher than he was,” Nancy said, “but he always felt he got further with people through humor and kindness.”

In the days following Justin’s Nov. 4 death from an automobile accident, Nancy learned exactly how much Justin impacted other’s lives.

A girl wrote that Justin had been such a good friend to her in high school, it influenced the type of woman she had become. “If you met Justin once, you never forgot him,” Nancy said. “He had that way with people.”

At picnics and barbecues, Justin gravitated toward the children, keeping them amused in the swimming pool or with water balloons, so the adults could socialize. Justin always joked how he could never be a successful father because he would never be serious enough with children.

Even in death, Justin, a fervent Chicago Cubs fan, is still blessing children. “All the money people donated to us, we sent to the Chicago Cubs Charities,” Nancy said, “because they help inner city children.”

Contact Denise M. Baran-Unland at 815-467-5249 or artemis279@aol.com.