Joseph F. Kastner, 64, of Woodridge, died May 26, 2011.
Mr. Kastner was a Vietnam War veteran and served in the village of Riverside as a police officer for 24 years, retiring at the rank of sergeant. He was hired by Riverside in 1969 and promoted to sergeant in 1988.
Riverside Police Chief Thomas Weitzel, called Mr. Kastner “a very community-oriented individual.” Mr. Kastner was Weitzel’s direct supervisor as a sergeant for several years.
“If our agency was big enough to have a community relations officer, he would have been the one,” said Weitzel.
Mr. Kastner headed the department’s juvenile division and ran all of the division’s juvenile crime prevention programs, including the Officer Friendly program in the 1980s.
In addition, Mr. Kastner was an animal lover and lifelong sports fan, who for many years coached his children’s teams in baseball, softball, basketball and soccer.
Mr. Kastner is survived by his wife, Patrice Kastner (nee McCarthy); his children, Jennifer (Mark) Vanderploeg, Scott (Stephanie) Kastner and Kelly (fiancé Seth Myers) Kastner; his brother, James (Sue) Kastner; his brothers-in-law, Brian and Shawn (Una) McCarthy; his niece, Megan McCarthy; and his nephew, Patrick McCarthy. He was preceded in death by his nephew, Jeremy Kastner.
Visitation will be Wednesday, June 1 from 3 to 9 p.m. at Adams-Winterfield & Sullivan Funeral Home, 4343 Main St. in Downers Grove (one block south of Ogden Avenue).
A funeral Mass will be celebrated Thursday, June 2 at 10 a.m. at St. Scholastica Church, 7800 Janes Avenue in Woodridge.