Mark Justen, director of Justen Funeral Homes in McHenry County, has died

Mark Justen, a man many knew as an "institution" in the city of McHenry, has died, the Northwest Herald confirmed with multiple sources on Sunday.

McHenry Police Department spokesperson Patrick Polidori said they were called to a death investigation in the 300 block of Green Street about 10:15 a.m. Sunday.

He said because the death still is under investigation, they cannot give identifying information on the individual out. The cause of death has not been reported yet.

"I can say that it's not suspicious at this point," Polidori said.

Justen was the owner of Justen Funeral Home and Crematory in McHenry, Justen’s Wonder Lake Funeral Home and Justen’s Round Lake Funeral Home.

But McHenry resident Ned Neumann got to know Justen way before that. Neumann was a member of the McHenry High School District 156 School Board. At the time, Justen was a student at McHenry Community High School, who would give play-by-play announcements for the football games at McCracken Field.

In later years, Neumann got to know Justen better as they were both regulars at Green Street Cafe, where they would talk about sports or politics.

Because he was so involved with local politics and was on the Board of Trustees for the McHenry Township Fire Protection district, Justen was a very knowledgeable, helpful guy, Neumann said.

"He knew everything that was going on," Neumann said. "He always had opinions; [he knew] everybody and everything."

Most of all, Neumann said, Justen was "just a fun guy."

"I do not like dull people," Neumann said. "Mark clearly was not dull."

Neumann said Justen knew where he stood on different topics, and asserted his position.

"He knew what he believed in," Neumann said.

In the recent election, he had won a tight race for the McHenry County Coroner's Office.

“For 43 years, I’ve been a funeral director, dealing with death and dying,” Justen told the Northwest Herald on election night. “I’ve been up all hours at night, I’ve been to all different tragedies, all different crime scenes, and so I know I was the most experienced.”

One of Justen's first priorities as coroner, he said, would have been to get the office accreditation.

Justen was the fourth generation of his family to run what is now Justen Funeral Homes. The business operates three facilities – Justen Funeral Home and Crematory in McHenry, Justen’s Wonder Lake Funeral Home and Justen’s Round Lake Funeral Home.

Justen had a wife, Nancy, who he was married to since 1986, and they have two sons, Rob and Alex.

He received his mortuary science education from Worsham College, and graduated from McHenry Community High School.

Justen was one of the founding members of the Illinois Funeral Directors Disaster Team in 1992.

He was sent to Washington, D.C., in 1994 as part of a small group that received training from the FBI. Later that year, American Eagle 4184 crashed in Indiana, and all 68 people died.

Justen was a logistical manager on the recovery.

He also served on the Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Teams, and was deployed to mass causalities of different types, according to an election questionnaire he filled out for the Northwest Herald.

According to a previous article in the Northwest Herald, after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Justen had to do the unimaginable job of flying to New York City, to work with the medical examiner and help identify the remains of those lost in the World Trade Center.

Justen spent nine months assisting in the recovery effort, and later received the privilege of lowering a giant flag outside the station of Firehouse Engine 10, Ladder 10, after becoming close with its fire chiefs.

On his Facebook page, McHenry Mayor Wayne Jett said that he, the McHenry City Council and the entire city were saddened by the "sudden, unexpected loss of Mark Justen."

"Mark’s longstanding commitment to our community’s residents, and especially to our veterans and first responders, will be greatly missed," Jett said. "In all of my interactions with Mark it was clear to me that he wanted only the best for the families that he served and to help however he could to make McHenry a better place for all of us. My deepest condolences to his wife, Nancy, and his entire family. Mark will be greatly missed."