Editor's note: Your ProbateShark was a clown for the Medina Shrine Circus when Sheriff Elrod greeted a bus load of disabled children from Chicago area hospitals. Sheriff Elrod, himself on crutches, approached the kids and personally led them into the circus. I will always remember his statement to the kids, "...you too can someday become Sheriff..." What a guy! RIP Richard. Lucius Verenus, Schoolmaster, ProbateShark.com
RICHARD ELROD | 1934-2014
Former Cook sheriff, judge Richard Elrod dies
Richard Elrod, left, an assistant city corporation counsel, tries to subdue a rioter during the Days of Rage riots. Elrod was partially paralyzed during a scuffle later in the day. (Chicago Tribune / October 11, 1969)
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Richard J. Elrod, the son of a West Side ward committeeman, was seriously injured during an altercation with a protester during a 1969 Days of Rage demonstration downtown before going on to four terms as Cook County Sheriff and more than 25 years as a Circuit Court judge.
Judge Elrod, 80, died of complications from liver cancer on Saturday, April 19, in his Lincolnwood home, said his son Steven.
Judge Elrod was sheriff from 1970 to 1986 and was still a member of the Cook County bench at the time of his death. Since the 1969 injury, he had only limited use of his limbs and got around with the help of crutches, canes or an electric scooter.
"If ever there is a book titled 'Chicago Profiles in Courage,' Dick Elrod will be at the top of the list," said Ald. Ed Burke, 14th. "For him to have achieved 80 years of age with that kind of health challenge is really remarkable."
Richard Elrod was born Feb. 17, 1934 in Chicago. He graduated from Riverside Military Academy in Gainesville, Ga., in 1951, and then received an undergraduate degree in political science. At Northwestern, he played guard for the football team and also met his future wife, Marilyn Mann. They married in June 1955. Three years later, Judge Elrod got his law degree from Northwestern.
Judge Elrod's father, Arthur X. Elrod, was Cook County commissioner and Democratic committeeman for the 24th Ward on Chicago's West Side. After law school, Judge Elrod took a job as an assistant corporation counsel for the City of Chicago, and he became the city's chief prosecutor in 1965.
In 1967, Judge Elrod, then living in West Rogers Park, made his first try for political office, losing in the Democratic primary for 50th Ward alderman to incumbent Ald. Jack Sperling. Two years later, he successfully ran for a two-year term as a state representative.
He remained the city’s chief prosecutor and took an interest in the demonstrations that roiled the city in the late 1960s. He often was on hand, negotiating with protesters and overseeing police work.
What happened on Oct. 11, 1969 is subject to dispute, but during a demonstration led by the Weathermen faction of Students for a Democratic Society, Judge Elrod suffered a broken neck and was left paralyzed from the neck down.
The protester, Brian Flanagan, 22, said Elrod tried to tackle him and hit a building. Witnesses in a subsequent trial also said Elrod made a flying tackle in trying to grab Flanagan. Elrod said he grabbed the protester, who kicked him in the head and neck.
Flanagan was acquitted of aggravated assault in a jury trial.
Judge Elrod initially was unable to move any part of his body below his neck. However, in time, he became a quadriparetic instead of a quadriplegic, meaning that he had weakness in all of his limbs but that he did have some limited use of them.
Less than two months after his injury, Judge Elrod was tapped by Cook County Democrats to run for sheriff in what the Tribune's John Elmer wrote was "considered a master stroke by Mayor Daley to give the Democratic county ticket added punch." Judge Elrod went on to defeat Republican and former FBI agent Bernard Carey.
He remained sheriff until 1986, when he lost an election to his former undersheriff, former Chicago Police Supt. James O'Grady.
Judge Elrod took a job as a senior assistant attorney general under Neil Hartigan for about a year and a half until the Illinois Supreme Court appointed him to be a Cook County Circuit Court judge in August 1988.
"He was bright, fair, and he was really smart about how he managed his courtroom. He didn't let lawyers get away with our shenanigans that we always try to do," said noted personal injury attorney Robert Clifford.
Family members said one of his proudest moments was last spring, when he and his son, both Northwestern law school graduates, took the stage at Northwestern University School of Law's graduation ceremony alongside his grandson, who had just earned his degree.
Judge Elrod also is survived by a daughter, Audrey Lakin; and four grandchildren.
A memorial service is set for 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 22 at Temple Am Shalom, 840 Vernon Avenue, Glencoe.
chicagobreaking@tribune.com | Twitter: @ChicagoBreaking
Judge Elrod, 80, died of complications from liver cancer on Saturday, April 19, in his Lincolnwood home, said his son Steven.
Judge Elrod was sheriff from 1970 to 1986 and was still a member of the Cook County bench at the time of his death. Since the 1969 injury, he had only limited use of his limbs and got around with the help of crutches, canes or an electric scooter.
"If ever there is a book titled 'Chicago Profiles in Courage,' Dick Elrod will be at the top of the list," said Ald. Ed Burke, 14th. "For him to have achieved 80 years of age with that kind of health challenge is really remarkable."
Richard Elrod was born Feb. 17, 1934 in Chicago. He graduated from Riverside Military Academy in Gainesville, Ga., in 1951, and then received an undergraduate degree in political science. At Northwestern, he played guard for the football team and also met his future wife, Marilyn Mann. They married in June 1955. Three years later, Judge Elrod got his law degree from Northwestern.
Judge Elrod's father, Arthur X. Elrod, was Cook County commissioner and Democratic committeeman for the 24th Ward on Chicago's West Side. After law school, Judge Elrod took a job as an assistant corporation counsel for the City of Chicago, and he became the city's chief prosecutor in 1965.
In 1967, Judge Elrod, then living in West Rogers Park, made his first try for political office, losing in the Democratic primary for 50th Ward alderman to incumbent Ald. Jack Sperling. Two years later, he successfully ran for a two-year term as a state representative.
He remained the city’s chief prosecutor and took an interest in the demonstrations that roiled the city in the late 1960s. He often was on hand, negotiating with protesters and overseeing police work.
What happened on Oct. 11, 1969 is subject to dispute, but during a demonstration led by the Weathermen faction of Students for a Democratic Society, Judge Elrod suffered a broken neck and was left paralyzed from the neck down.
The protester, Brian Flanagan, 22, said Elrod tried to tackle him and hit a building. Witnesses in a subsequent trial also said Elrod made a flying tackle in trying to grab Flanagan. Elrod said he grabbed the protester, who kicked him in the head and neck.
Flanagan was acquitted of aggravated assault in a jury trial.
Judge Elrod initially was unable to move any part of his body below his neck. However, in time, he became a quadriparetic instead of a quadriplegic, meaning that he had weakness in all of his limbs but that he did have some limited use of them.
Less than two months after his injury, Judge Elrod was tapped by Cook County Democrats to run for sheriff in what the Tribune's John Elmer wrote was "considered a master stroke by Mayor Daley to give the Democratic county ticket added punch." Judge Elrod went on to defeat Republican and former FBI agent Bernard Carey.
He remained sheriff until 1986, when he lost an election to his former undersheriff, former Chicago Police Supt. James O'Grady.
Judge Elrod took a job as a senior assistant attorney general under Neil Hartigan for about a year and a half until the Illinois Supreme Court appointed him to be a Cook County Circuit Court judge in August 1988.
"He was bright, fair, and he was really smart about how he managed his courtroom. He didn't let lawyers get away with our shenanigans that we always try to do," said noted personal injury attorney Robert Clifford.
Family members said one of his proudest moments was last spring, when he and his son, both Northwestern law school graduates, took the stage at Northwestern University School of Law's graduation ceremony alongside his grandson, who had just earned his degree.
Judge Elrod also is survived by a daughter, Audrey Lakin; and four grandchildren.
A memorial service is set for 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 22 at Temple Am Shalom, 840 Vernon Avenue, Glencoe.
chicagobreaking@tribune.com | Twitter: @ChicagoBreaking
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