Crystal Lake post office renamed for suburban Marine killed in Iraq

The post office in Crystal Lake is now the Ryan J. Cummings Post Office, renamed in honor of a former Streamwood resident and Hoffman Estates High School graduate killed in action while serving in Iraq.

A bill signed into law by President Joe Biden at the end of last year renamed the post office after Cummings, a Marine who was 22 years old when he died in a 2006 roadside bomb attack.

Cummings lived in Crystal Lake before moving to Streamwood.

U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth and U.S. Rep. Sean Casten worked to pass the bill renaming the post office after Cummings.

Cumming's father, John, said last year that he first met Duckworth several years ago at Abraham Lincoln Cemetery in Elwood, where his son is buried. Duckworth, an Iraq War veteran, pulled out a photo of his son and told him she carries pictures of service members who lost their lives in combat.

Casten's bill was passed in the House on Nov. 14 and then passed the Senate with unanimous approval on Dec. 19. The president signed the bill on Dec. 27.

Biden thanked Casten, Duckworth, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin and the Illinois delegation for their leadership in a White House news release announcing the bill's passing.

Duckworth said in a statement last March that they had been working on getting the bill passed and give the Cummings family a "well deserved honor."