Families of 2 fallen McHenry County officers honor carry on their legacies

In recent years, two McHenry County Sheriff’s deputies died after they were shot in the line of duty. Jacob Keltner and Dwight Maness are remembered and memorialized in the sheriff’s office, including with the dedication last fall of two personalized chairs in their honor to serve as a regular reminder of their sacrifices. Their respective widows and families also honor their legacies.

Jacob Keltner’s widow: ‘My main focus is my kids’

Jacob Keltner was killed outside Rockford while serving a warrant in 2019. He was survived by his wife, Rebecca Keltner, and two children, Caleb and Carson, who are now 11 and 10, respectively.

Keltner grew up in a law enforcement family, with his father, Howard Keltner, serving as a corrections officer in DuPage County. Howard Keltner has since retired. Jacob majored in Spanish and minored in law enforcement, thinking Spanish would be an asset in his career, Rebecca Keltner said.

The Keltners met at Western Illinois University, with Jacob planning for a career in law enforcement and Rebecca in teaching. Rebecca Keltner left teaching after her second child was born.

Jacob Keltner began his law enforcement career following in his father’s footsteps and then started applying to police departments before going to work for the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office. Rebecca Keltner said her husband started off as a detective before working with the U.S. Marshals Service. The family made their home in Crystal Lake, where they still reside.

“This community has been her for me through everything,” Keltner said.

She said she worried about her husband’s safety on the job. “I think that’s part of being a law enforcement family,” Rebecca Keltner said.

But, Keltner added, her husband was “very passionate about what he did.”

In addition to support from community members, the Keltners have found support in developing friendships with other law enforcement families who have also lost a loved one in the line of duty. She said her children have been able to connect with other children who have lost a parent. She said the support from other families has been “really helpful” for the family.

The Keltner family also sponsors an annual blood drive in memory of Jacob Keltner each year. Rebecca Keltner said her husband received several units of blood in the hospital after he was shot and the donations allowed her to see her husband before he died. She said she gives blood each year at the blood drive and tries to give periodically throughout the year.

The blood drive is the primary activity Keltner does in honor of her late husband. “My main focus is the kids” and giving them the opportunities in life they should have, Keltner said.

Dwight Maness’ daughter follows his footsteps: ‘He was big on respect and fairness’

Dwight Maness was shot while responding to a well-being check in 2014 and died about a year later at the age of 47. Sue Maness, the widow of the late deputy, said holidays and anniversaries are still difficult.

“It kind of makes you relive everything,” she said.

Maness said she was constantly worried for her husband’s safety while he was on the job and said she had eased into things, then found out he got shot. Maness said her late husband was the first law enforcement officer that was a family member of hers. But, her late husband’s legacy in policing lives on.

Her daughter, Lauren Opryszek, has been serving as a police officer in Tulsa, Oklahoma, for the past several years, and Maness worries about her daughter’s safety on the job.

“She needs to check in with me more than she does,” Maness said, adding her daughter is a “smart girl” and she has to “rely” on that.

Opryszek’s background was in cardiac rehab and she said she didn’t seriously consider going into police work before her father was shot. After he got shot, Opryszek thought it would be cool to work with him.

“How cool would it be to ... work with my dad?” Opryzek asked.

After he died, Opryszek went into policing to carry on what Maness started, and his legacy is present in her car. She said she keeps his badge and note from him in her car.

“I got all his stuff, basically,” Opryszek said. She also keeps Maness’ ashes in her bulletproof vest.

She said she also tries to emulate Maness’ style of policing.

“He was big on respect and fairness and honesty,” Opryszek said. “I really try to go above and beyond.”

Opryszek said Maness was the “closest person to my heart by far” and Maness was the first relative of hers to be in law enforcement. Now, Opryszek is continuing the family’s law enforcement legacy. “I couldn’t imagine doing anything else,” Opryszek said.

Maness said she made donations to veteran-related causes following her husband’s passing. “It makes me feel better” to help people, she said.

Maness also set up motorcycle rides and bingo events in her husband’s honor. The Manesses met on a charity motorcycle ride in Chicago and motorcycles were a big part of their relationship. Maness said she would get her husband bike parts as gifts. “He loved riding with me,” she said.

There also is an honorary Dwight D. Maness Way in McHenry near where the Maness family used to live. The Maness home in McHenry was auctioned off several years ago for a nonprofit, the Knights of Columbus Council 8473, and Maness said she recently moved back to Wonder Lake.

Maness also set up a nonprofit, the Dwight “Maddog” Maness Veteran’s Assistance Fund, which helps veterans access needed services. “Maddog” was Dwight Maness’ nickname in the U.S. Army.

The nonprofit has had bike rides in Dwight Maness’ honor, and Sue Maness said the bike rides were a good way to honor her husband’s memory. She hasn’t had a bike ride in a few years, but is hoping to start up bingo again.

She recalled that when she had doctor’s appointments at Veterans Affairs, her husband would accompany her to the appointments and visit with disabled veterans while he was there.

“That was [really] therapeutic for him,” Maness said.