Chicago Officer Jonathan Ho, Killed on Motorcycle, was Devoted to Family

Jonathan Ho, 35, of Mount Greenwood died one day after a motorcycle accident on Monday afternoon. Ho worked for the Chicago Police Department since 2004. He was off-duty at the time of the accident. View Full Caption

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MOUNT GREENWOOD — Jonathan Ho, 35, of Mount Greenwood was remembered on Friday as a family man who loved his motorcycle and his Jeep.

Ho, a 10-year veteran of the Chicago Police Department, was taken in critical condition to Advocate Christ Hospital in suburban Oak Lawn on Monday following an off-duty motorcycle accident, according to a police spokesman.

Ho was returning home from work as a patrolman in Auburn Gresham when an SUV turned left in front of his motorcycle. The accident occurred at approximately 2 p.m. in the 9500 block of South Vincennes Avenue in Washington Heights, police said.

Welton Crayton, 62, of the 9800 block of South Peoria Street in Washington Heights, was traveling northbound on Vincennes Avenue at the time of the accident, according to police. Crayton turned his Ford Explorer left onto 95th Street when he struck Ho, who was traveling south on Vincennes on his personal motorcycle, police said.

Jonathan Ho, 35, of Mount Greenwood died on Tuesday. Ho worked for 10 years with the Chicago Police Department. He was killed in an off-duty motorcycle accident on Monday. In this picture from 2012, Ho is holding his newborn nephew, Joseph Tunno. View Full Caption

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Crayton on Wednesday was cited for failure to yield, driving on suspended license and operating an uninsured motor vehicle, according to police.

Ho died on Tuesday, leaving behind his wife, Chrissy, and their two children — Brycen, 12, and Taylor, 10.

“Family was so very, very important to him,” said Jenny Tunno, of Mount Greenwood.

After Ho married Tunno’s older sister 12 years ago, he quickly became known as “Uncle Ho-Ho” and earned a reputation as a handyman and devoted father, Tunno said.

“Whenever anything went wrong, we’d call Jon,” she said.

On the Sunday before the accident, the two families had a barbecue at Ho’s house. They discussed a family road trip for the following summer. Ho’s family had just returned from vacation in Tennessee earlier in the month.

“They just came back with a bunch of cowboy boots,” said Tunno, adding that Ho had taken his family on similar road trips to Washington and Florida.

She said Ho often worked overtime and side jobs to help pay for little extras for his family. His daughter, Taylor, plays softball. His son, Brycen, plays for the St. Jude Knights Hockey Club.

Despite being frequently dead tired, Ho rarely missed a practice or a game.

Ho met Tunno’s sister while working at the home security company ADT. The couple lived with relatives in Mount Greenwood and on the North Side for a bit to save money to purchase a home, she said.

They returned to Mount Greenwood in 2012, purchasing a house in the area served by Mount Greenwood Elementary School, Tunno said.

Marnie Coyne and her husband Steve, a fellow Chicago police officer, lived on the same block in Mount Greenwood as Jon and Chrissy Ho for several years.

“He had a smile on his face always — an infectious smile, an infectious personality,” said Marnie Coyne on Friday.

She said Ho was one of the first people to help shovel snow on the block, clean a neighbor’s gutters or — in her case — help a change out a dead car battery.

“He was the type of person that, with this happening, you sit back and say, ‘Wow, I wonder if people would say things this nice about me?"” Coyne said.

Ho used to rent motorcycles before purchasing his own Harley-Davidson last year. He also loved his Jeep and belonged to several clubs for enthusiasts. He occasionally went off-roading in the Jeep and enjoyed working on both vehicles himself.

In a final act of generosity, Ho donated his organs and tissue to help others in medical need, Coyne said.

“Even after death, Jon keeps giving,” she said.

Visitation for Jonathan Ho will be held from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Monday at Blake Lamb Funeral Home in suburban Oak Lawn. Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. at St. Christina Catholic Church in Mount Greenwood.

He will be buried at Holy Sepulchre Catholic Cemetery in Alsip.

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Chicago Officer Jonathan Ho, Killed on Motorcycle, was Devoted to Family