Man killed in East Garfield Park building collapse remembered as the ultimate father
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The family of a man killed in a building collapse Tuesday afternoon in East Garfield Park say they cannot believe what happened.
This as two other family members injured in the collapse recover at the hospital.
CBS 2's Meredith Barack reports the man who died, 52-year-old Anthony Wright Sr. was a father who grew up in a family with nine children.
His younger sister described him as protective, and called him the ultimate father.
Yolanda Wright said Anthony's children were frequently at his home, and he was always going out of his way to make sure his kids were well taken care of. His oldest son, Anthony Jr., was injured when a stone cornice on the graystone three-flat where Anthony Sr. lives collapsed on top of them as they were sitting on the front porch with a cousin.
He lived on the first floor of the building with his wife, who we are told is now broken after her husband's sudden death.
Yolanda said her older brother acted as a backbone for the family, as well as often manning the grill when all the relatives got together.
"He was always, 'that's my little sister, that's my little sister,'" Yolanda said. "God don't make no mistakes. Everything he do has a reason behind it, but this is a hard pill to swallow."
Anthony Sr. was left trapped under heavy debris after the collapse, and did not survive.
His son and a family cousin were seriously injured in the collapse, and remained hospitalized on Wednesday.