Memorial established for Palatine man
After Ryan Flannigan died, his family and friends wanted to create an appropriate tribute to the well-liked, 26-year-old who was killed nearly 18 months ago while trying to diffuse an altercation outside a Palatine bar.
They found the perfect place for their memorial, a park bench shaded by an American redwood, in Ost Field, the Palatine park where Flannigan played football as a boy and where he ran the track as an adult.
"It's a place that brought a lot of nice memories of him," said Courtney Flannigan, Ryan's sister. "It's so perfectly placed, overlooking the park and a children's playground. He would have loved it."
About 100 friends and family members gathered recently for the dedication and to pay tribute to Ryan who authorities described as a peacemaker.
"Ryan was a very protective person, protective of his friends, of his family," Courtney Flannigan said. "You definitely feel his positive presence."
Family friend Noreen Drews helped arrange the memorial through the Palatine Park District's Living Tribute program, Flannigan said.
"We all wanted a positive place where we could go and all feel connected to Ryan," she said. "We had a makeshift memorial in downtown Palatine, but going there brought back terrible memories."
Those terrible memories date back to the evening of July 18, 2014, when Ryan Flannigan attempted to intervene in an altercation - in which he had no part - outside Pop's Bar and Grill in Palatine.
Michael Platt, 36, also of Palatine, hit Flannigan in his left temple as he tried to settle a heated exchange between a female friend of Flannigan's and a male friend of Platt's, prosecutors said. The blow caused him to fall and strike his head on the pavement. He died without regaining consciousness 10 days later. His heart, liver, kidneys and spleen were donated to Project Hope.
During Platt's murder trial last summer, prosecutors called Platt's actions "a vicious, cowardly attack." Platt's attorneys said their client never intended to hurt Flannigan. Jurors acquitted Platt.
The verdict devastated Flannigan's family and friends.
"It brought us all back to our initial grieving process to see someone … get away with absolutely no consequences," said Courtney Flannigan, whose family is pursuing a wrongful death law suit against Platt.
The memorial served as a positive tribute to the young man they knew and loved, said Flannigan, adding "anyone can come visit and feel connected (to him) in a place Ryan loved."