Stretch of highway to be named for deputy killed in crash

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) - A stretch of central Illinois highway will be designated as a memorial to a Tazewell County deputy who was killed in a traffic accident last year while responding to a domestic call.

Tazewell County sheriff's Deputy Craig Whisenand was honored Thursday as part of an event in Springfield. A sheriff's official said the designation of a stretch of Illinois Route 9 as Deputy Craig Whisenand Memorial Highway was approved Wednesday by the General Assembly, the Pekin Daily Times (http://bit.ly/1TMYBIq ) reported.

Whisenand, 44, was responding to a domestic disturbance call in August when his vehicle went off the road. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Whisenand and his family lived in Tremont, and the highway designation will go through the village.

His wife, Steffany, was outside the Statehouse as officers marched during the 31st Annual Illinois Police Officers Memorial Day. The event "has been the most unbelievable experience," she said.

"It's nice to know that you aren't alone and you have the support and love of the law enforcement community around you," she added.

McHenry County sheriff's Deputy Dwight Maness was also honored. He died in September, nearly a year after he was shot while responding to a domestic violence call.

In Springfield, among the families of fallen officers was Jack Bauer, whose nephew, Wyoming Police Chief William Bauer, died in 2010 in a crash. The annual ceremony, Bauer said, helps with lasting grief.

"You can't bottle it up," Bauer said. "You have to get out and get it out of your system and get with other people like this."

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Information from: Pekin Daily Times, http://www.pekintimes.com