Excerpts from the Chicagotribune.com:
Anytime when newcomers joined the Lincolnshire-Riverwoods Fire Protection District, Lt. James Carney always was the first to welcome them with kindness and respect.
So during Carney’s three-and-a-half-year battle with cancer, his fellow firefighters were determined to support him on his final journey, which ended Dec. 17. Carney was 43.
Years after joining the district, Carney was diagnosed with duty-related cancer in 2013 after medical examinations determined the disease was the result of repeated exposure to carcinogens while fighting fires.
Born in Waukegan on June 27, 1974, Carney grew up on his family’s farm in Wadsworth with his parents and sister Kelly He attended St. Patrick Elementary School and later Warren Township High School. After attending Columbia Southern University, Carney began his career as an on-call member of the Newport Township Fire Protection District in Wadsworth and went on to earn his paramedic license.
In July 2000, he was hired by the Lincolnshire-Riverwoods Fire Protection District, where he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant in December 2006, developing the reputation for remaining calm, no matter how dire the circumstances.
Carney is survived by his wife Janelle; daughter, Peyton; son, Brett; his parents, Fred and Vicki; and sister, Kelly.
Family and friends are set to gather Friday morning at St. Patrick Church, 15000 Wadsworth Road, Wadsworth, where a funeral Mass is planned for 10 a.m. Interment will follow at Ascension Cemetery in Libertyville.
thanks Dan
