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Deputy Keltner Honored And Remembered At Funeral

Sarah Jesmer
Deputy Keltner's casket leaves Woodstock North High School Wednesday morning for DeFiore Funeral Home.

It was standing room only in a Woodstock North High School gym on Wednesday morning. A sea of Illinois law enforcement, friends, and family mourned the loss of Deputy Jacob Keltner at his funeral.

Keltner was shot and killed in Rockford a week earlier while helping to serve an arrest warrant.

The 35-year-old was a Special U.S. Marshal and a Deputy with the McHenry County Sheriff's Department.

The funeral was followed by a procession. As light rain fell after the service ended, a dispatcher's voice broke the silence outside the high school to deliver Keltner's end of tour message.

"Deputy Jacob Keltner, thank you for your service and ultimate sacrifice. Rest in peace brother. We will take it from here," the dispatcher said.

He was fondly commemorated as what Rev. Kendall Koenig called "an officer, and more."

"We are not heroes for how we die. We are heroes for how we live," said Koenig as he celebrated Keltner's life during the funeral message.

Keltner is survived by his wife, Becki, and two young sons. The community was invited to pay their respects in a public visitation at DeFiore Funeral Home following the funeral.