The annual Riverside Community Memorial Day Ceremony will be held at the St. Mary Church Parish Center Gym, 97 Herrick Road in Riverside. The ceremony begins at 10:00 a.m. Plenty of parking will be available and all are welcome.
The ceremony includes the presentation of a Gold Star Citation to the family of U.S. Navy Lt. Richard Jicka, who was killed while serving in the South Pacific during World War II. The names of all 54 Riverside residents who died while serving overseas in the Armed Forces will be read aloud.
The 2023 Riverside honored veteran is retired Command Sgt. Maj. Frank W. Gresik, who served in the U.S. Army for 29 years, from 1987 to 2016. Gresik served on active duty through 1992 in South Korea and California before entering service in the Army Reserve.
At 1:00 p.m., the community is invited to gather at Guthrie Park's Gold Star Memorial, located across from the Riverside train station on Bloomingbank Road for the Navy Wreath ceremony. A wreath will be placed into the Des Plaines River to honor those from Riverside who died while serving in foreign wars.