Sheriff's Deputy Living In Racine County Dies From Coronavirus

CHICAGO — A 25-year deputy at the Cook County Sheriff's Office who made his home in Racine County died Sunday from complications of COVID-19. His family believes he contracted the virus while working out of the Skokie Courthouse, and the sheriff's office considers his death to be in the line of duty.

Richard O'Brien, 53, a resident of Burlington, made the hour-long commute south to Skokie for most of his quarter-century career in law enforcement. Before that, the Twin Lakes native worked as a trucker, according to his brother-in-law, Jeff Stewart.

"It's just not fair," Stewart said Monday. "Had COVID-19 not been around, Rich would be here. He would have been here today to celebrate his daughter's 22nd birthday." Instead, O'Brien's daughter's birthday was marked last weekend with a video call and songs to his hospital room, where he lay unconscious after nearly three weeks on a ventilator.

O'Brien's most recent assignment with the sheriff's office was with the civil process division, where he would serve paperwork on behalf of the sheriff's office — a job that requires close contact with the public.

"He would go out and hand warrants, and he would basically sometimes deal with the most dangerous of dangerous people," Stewart said. "He would take on any job."

Late last year, O'Brien was diagnosed with an irregular heartbeat, and subsequent tests turned up a low white blood cell count, his brother-in-law recalled. Doctors conducted more tests and discovered O'Brien had a common form of leukemia.

O'Brien lived for his family, his wife's brother recalled. The family would travel up to a seasonal campground in Pardeeville nearly every weekend during the summer over about the past dozen years.

"He did everything he could for his kids. Sometimes probably too much — and his wife," Stewart said. "He just wanted them to be happy."

An online fundraiser established on behalf of the family to help cover the cost of groceries, bills and other expenses had received donations from more than 175 people as of Monday.

Over the past month, Stewart said he'd heard the story countless times about how O'Brien's children called him "Superman."

"Rich used to say, 'Nothing can hurt me. The only thing that can hurt me is kryptonite, and there ain't no kryptonite here because I'm Superman.'"

Original Reporting By Jonah Meadows, Patch Staff