Walking Man’s remains to be interred in Chicago cemetery after donations

Joseph Kromelis, the well-known “Walking Man” of downtown Chicago, will have his cremated remains interred in a Chicago cemetery in a private ceremony with family later this month.

Kromelis died in December at age 75 from injuries he suffered in an attack months earlier. He was homeless without family in the area and was expected to be buried in the county’s yearly mass burial for indigent and unidentified residents.

But after a series of donations, Kromelis will be laid to rest at St. Boniface Cemetery, 4901 N. Clark St.

The Rev. Scott Donahue, president of Mercy Home for Boys & Girls, spearheaded the effort to reach family and coordinate a private burial, according to Mark Schmeltzer, director of communication at Mercy Home.

Like many Chicagoans, Donahue had followed Kromelis’ story and “was really moved by all of it: His life, the assault that happened to him and his passing,” Schmeltzer said. “He felt called to do something.”

Donahue contacted family and got permission to coordinate the burial, Schmeltzer said.

Cremation services were donated by Sullivan Funeral Home in Hinsdale, and a niche at St. Boniface was donated by the Catholic Cemeteries of the Archdiocese of Chicago, he said.

“Kromelis is such an icon of Chicago,” Schmeltzer said. “Keeping him in Chicago, even in death, is a good thing.”

Last May, Kromelis was doused in gasoline and lit on fire while sleeping on Lower Wabash Avenue. A Melrose Park man has been charged in the murder. Kromelis’ condition improved after the attack and he was discharged from a hospital, but he died from his injuries eight months later.