Chicago firefighter Michael Altman laid to rest after private funeral
Fallen Chicago firefighter/EMT Michael Altman was laid to rest on Tuesday following a private funeral service and burial.
The memorial was a small and private service at Blake-Lamb Funeral Home in Oak Lawn, unlike the original plan for a larger service at St. Rita of Cascia Shrine Chapel in the Ashburn neighborhood in Chicago.
Dozens stood in the rain Tuesday morning to show their support along the procession route as his casket was carried from Blake-Lamb Funeral Home to the cemetery for a final goodbye.
Fire crews proudly shined up their equipment and hung a huge American flag across the street from the funeral home as well as along the procession route.
"Everybody is right here, rain or shine, as you should be. You know, I mean, it's only a few minutes. Come out and support," Oak Lawn resident Pam Krull said.
Amid heavy rain, residents, firefighters, and police officers lined the street at the intersection of 107th and Cicero in Oak Lawn as a Chicago Fire Department Truck 47 carried Altman's casket to the cemetery, with the bunker jacket bearing his name draped on the front of the truck.
Oak Lawn resident Mary Maloney was among those paying their respects along the procession route.
"I mean, a man gave his life. His poor wife and now two kids. It's sad," she said.
Altman died after falling through the floor of a Rogers Park apartment building while fighting a fire on March 16.
A man has been charged with murder in Altman's death, accused of deliberately setting the fire that killed him. Prosecutors said when the first floor of the building collapsed, Altman fell into the fire and was engulfed in flames.
Altman's funeral was originally scheduled for Friday, but was postponed after his widow went into labor and gave birth to a healthy baby girl on the day of his wake on Thursday.
Maloney said she was ready to stand along the procession route last week.
"I was actually lining the streets at 103rd Street when the procession went from the funeral home to St. Rita, and that's when I found out that the funeral was postponed due to her going into labor," she said.
Altman's loss hit the Chicago Fire Department especially hard because of his deep family history. He was a fourth-generation firefighter, and his grandfather, Edward P. Altman Jr., served as fire commissioner from 1996 to 1999. The senior Altman died in 2020.
Altman was on the job for nearly two years.
"To think he would lose his life, leave behind a wife, a young baby, and now a second young baby, it puts it all in perspective," said Chicago Ald. Matt O'Shea (19th)
Meanwhile, the Oak Lawn bar Reilly's Daughter is now selling shirts and sweat shirts online to raise money for Altman's widow, toddler, and newborn.
