Excerpts from the ChicagoTribune.com:
Juan Bucio was a man of few words. Quiet but devoted. Stoic but determined. Disciplined and precise. Bucio preferred to let his work do the talking, family and his fellow firefighters said, whether it was in rescues or training. He was frequently first in team dive tests. He jumped out of a helicopter on Father’s Day to search for a boy missing near Jackson Park harbor.
Bucio’s sons, family, friends and firefighter family tried to press forward Monday, gathering for a funeral Mass to remember and salute their father, brother and comrade. During the bilingual service, family members described Bucio, a divorced father of two boys, ages 9 and 7, as the strong and quiet one.
Earlier Monday morning, firetrucks with black and purple bunting led a procession along Western Avenue to the doors of the church. Leading the way was the scuba team’s vehicle. Engine No. 13 carried Bucio’s casket, draped in the Chicago municipal flag on the back and Bucio’s fire jacket and helmet on the front.
Members of Bucio’s air and rescue team served as pallbearers and carefully unloaded the casket before heading in. One member of the team breathed heavily, clenching his fist as he fought back tears. Bucio’s sons, their gloved hands gently resting on the top of the casket and their heads bowed, led the pallbearers into the church.
At the end of the afternoon, when the procession arrived at the cemetery, a fire engine carried the casket to the burial site, followed closely by the Chicago Police Department’s mounted unit and the fire department’s air and sea rescue team, who marched in formation.
A priest eulogized Bucio, noting the similarities between his last name and buzo, the Spanish word for diver. A duet of trumpeters played Taps. The bagpipers played Amazing Grace. And the honor guard folded the Chicago flag from the atop the coffin and presented it to Bucio’s family.
A casket bearing the body of Chicago Fire Department diver Juan Bucio, 46, arrives on June 4, 2018, for the funeral at St. Rita of Cascia Shrine Chapel on the South Side of Chicago. Bucio died during a rescue attempt last week. Chris Walker / Chicago Tribune photo
The family of fallen Chicago Fire Department diver Juan Bucio at his funeral at St. Rita of Cascia Shrine Chapel on June 4, 2018. E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune photo
St. Procopius Pastor Fr. Gary Graf addresses the sons of fallen Chicago Fire Department diver Juan Bucio at his funeral at St. Rita of Cascia Shrine Chapel on June 4, 2018. E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune photo
The funeral procession for Chicago firefighter Juan Bucio, 46, drives up North Harlem Avenue on the way to Mount Auburn Cemetery on June 4, 2018, in Stickney. Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune photo
A casket bearing the body of Chicago Fire Department diver Juan Bucio, 46, is carried on June 4, 2018, to a ladder truck after Bucio’s funeral at St. Rita of Cascia Shrine Chapel on the South Side. Chris Walker / Chicago Tribune photo
A casket bearing the body of Chicago Fire Department diver Juan Bucio, 46, is hoisted on June 4, 2018, to a ladder truck after Bucio’s funeral at St. Rita of Cascia Shrine Chapel on the South Side. Bucio died during a rescue attempt last week. Chris Walker / Chicago Tribune photo
The funeral procession for Chicago Fire Department diver Juan Bucio arrives on June 4, 2018, at Mt. Auburn Cemetery in Stickney. Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune photo
