Excerpts from the ChicagoTribune.com:

Friends, family, and fellow firefighters from throughout the region gathered at St. Mary Catholic Church in Huntley Thursday to pay their final respects to Carpentersville Battalion Chief Todd Middendorf.

Among those in attendance were members of the Hazel Green (Wis.) Fire Department, where Middendorf worked his first stint as a volunteer firefighter from 1992 to ’94. 

Middendorf joined the Carpentersville Fire Department 23 years ago, starting as a firefighter and working his way up to battalion chief. 

Middendorf, 46, died July 18 at Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center in Knoxville, Tenn. Middendorf , his wife Daisy and son Tyler were on vacation at their home in Sevierville, Tenn., a place where the couple planned to eventually retire. Family members have not publicly discussed the circumstances leading to Middendorf’s unexpected death and the medical examiner has not yet released the cause of death.