Murdered veteran faces final insult — no money for local funeral

Murdered Elgin homeless veteran faces final insult — no money for local funeral
By Dave Gathman
September 24, 2011

ELGIN — Vietnam-era soldier. Gifted carpenter. Loving father of three.

Alcoholic. Chronic homeless man. The victim of a senseless murder in which too much drinking likely played a role on both sides.

But after fulfilling all those roles during his 60 years of life, Richard Gibbons of Elgin now faces perhaps the final insult. His children don’t have enough money to give him the kind of funeral he wanted — a local cremation and simple memorial service costing just $1,700 — and are holding a fundraiser to pay for it, with any extra raised to be donated to three causes that benefit the homeless of Elgin.

The only time Gibbons made headlines was when he died, the victim of a crime so cruel and pointless that it made the Chicago newspapers and TV broadcasts. Many who heard the tale may have simply shrugged and said, “So another drunken homeless man is gone from our streets and some overserved, irresponsible jerk will probably spend most of his life in prison.”

But Gibbons’ family remembers a different man — a kind man, someone who even while he was homeless worked with an Elgin charity group to better the lives of others who live on Elgin’s streets.

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