Excerpts from kpcnews.com:
A crowd of hundreds congregated at 11 a.m. Wednesday at Smits Funeral Home, where they paid respects to honor the memory of Dylan Cunningham, 29, a South Holland firefighter and paramedic who died last week.
The private service was officiated by South Holland Fire Department Chaplain Rev. Daniel Svendsen. Outside, rows of public servants, including local firefighters, police officers, U.S. Army veterans, and Illinois and Indiana Army National guardsmen surrounded the funeral home, standing by as Cunningham’s loved ones and dignitaries bade their final farewells.
Cunningham, the son of Rosemary and Patrick Cunningham, died Sept. 30 during an underwater dive training exercise at Haigh Quarry Lake in Kankakee. He was pronounced dead at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago.
He had been with the South Holland Fire Department in a part-time role since 2011 and was sworn in full-time in 2018. He was also a paramedic, served in the Illinois Army National Guard, and was a member of the Associated Fire Fighters of Illinois (AFFI) Honor Guard Association and of the Mutual Aid Box Alarm System (MABAS) 24/27 Dive Team. In October 2018, Cunningham received a Gold Seal from the South Cook County EMS medical director for his work in saving a patient on an EMS call.
Cunningham graduated from Thornwood High School, where he was a multi-sport athlete. He earned a degree in fire science from Prairie State College, and then journeyed to Poland where he studied to become a chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear specialist for the Illinois National Guard. By the end of his service, Cunningham had earned the rank of sergeant and had served in a chemical operations and infantry unit.
