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LAKE COUNTY
From a young age, Jason Patt has devoted himself to a life of service, finding ways to help others and making a difference in his community.
At age 18, Patt enlisted in the Navy and served eight years, including a tour in Iraq. When he returned home, he entered a law enforcement career – first in the Lake County Sheriff’s Office and for the past nine years in the Lake County Coroner’s Office.
“I started with a military career, serving my country, and then I wanted to continue to serve people as a public servant,” Patt said.
Patt’s role as a death investigator has, at times, brought to his attention problems and needs in the community. Not long after coming to the office, he saw a large number of children injured or killed in vehicle accidents. When his investigations pointed to a lack of child safety seats, or improper installation of safety seats, he took the initiative to research and establish a Lake County satellite location for the national program Safekids.
“In our eyes, one child injured was too much,” Patt said. “We wanted to do everything we can to prevent this trend from continuing.”
Through the program, he and a partner were able to train in proper child safety seat installation and provide parents with safety seat inspections. In addition, Patt applied and received grant money to purchase safety seats for families who didn’t have and couldn’t afford child car seats.
Patt oversaw a secondary program to provide car seats to Lake County police departments and several fire departments so law enforcement could safety transport children in their vehicles in the event of accidents.
With work and home, Patt had plenty to keep him busy, but when he met a young woman fighting a battle against cyberbullying, he found himself drawn to help.
Patricia Gallarneau said she and Patt had met several times through the years with their work and time volunteering in the community. When she shared the story of how one of her daughters was facing severe bullying and using the experience to speak out against bullying and raise awareness, Patt soon joined the efforts.
“Jason helped her to be a strong person and get her message out,” Gallarneau said. “He is such a good person.”
In his own time, Patt joined Live Out Loud Charity, speaking about suicide prevention and crisis intervention. Patt said too often he saw the aftereffects of suicide and how it tore through a family or the friends of fellow military personnel. Patt said he hopes his effort to speak out and bring awareness can help.
“I’ve had plenty of people come up and tell me their stories and explain how my words really helped them,” Patt said.
Patt also is a coordinator for a police versus firefighter charity hockey game to benefit the 100 Club, which supports the families of fallen officers and firefighters. The second annual Shoots and Ladders charity hockey match will be August 20 at Glacier Ice Arena in Vernon Hills.
Patt said he and his fellow organizers love the game of hockey and the ability to use sports to help raise funds for an important organization.