Chicago Fire Lt. Kevin Ward was remembered Wednesday as a renaissance man always on the hunt for his next adventure.
Ward, who died last month from injuries suffered while battling a house fire, was escorted up North Michigan Avenue Wednesday morning from the Engine 98 firehouse on East Chicago Avenue.
His casket sat atop a fire engine and was led by the Chicago Fire Department Pipes and Drums and the Pipes and Drums of the Chicago Police Department. Two firetruck ladders held a massive American flag above Michigan Avenue and Chestnut Street.
Firefighters and Chicago police officers lined up and saluted as the procession made its way to the steps of the Fourth Presbyterian Church for visitation and funeral services.
“Lt. Kevin Ward embodied the very essence of firefighting and the Chicago Fire Department. His dedication to serving and safeguarding others was unwavering,” Chicago Fire Commissioner Annette Nance-Holt said. “His spirit, courage and legacy will live on with us all.”
Ward, who started as a mechanic with the department in 1996, found his passion working as a firefighter, said Capt. Anthony Massaro from Truck 9, where Ward was stationed.
“I will always remember him with a smile on his face, and I think that’s the way we should always remember him, with a smile on our face,” Massaro said.
Mayor Brandon Johnson said, “He fulfilled his life with many interests and talents, and today we call him a renaissance man.”
Corrinne Walenda, Ward’s ex-wife, told the Chicago Sun-Times that Ward was always up for an adventure and a challenge. His hobbies included playing underwater hockey, creating thousands of blown glass artworks and scuba diving around the world.
“He absolutely loved life,” Walenda said. “He was an exceptionally strong scuba diver and swimmer. We saw a lot of the world that way, like the Galapagos, Socorro Island. We saw manta rays and whale sharks and humpback whales, all through scuba diving.”
Walenda said Ward’s favorite book, “The Hobbit,” embodied who he was. He lived his life always looking for the next adventure and cared deeply about his friendships.
They were together for 15 years after meeting at the Art Institute in 2001. Though they divorced in 2016, the two remained close friends, so much so that Walenda accompanied him for a recent outpatient procedure and has adopted Skye, his German shepherd.
“We lived about a mile and a half from each other, and we watched each other’s dogs all the time. His dog, Skye, and my dog, Ditka, are both German shepherds,” Walenda said. “And Skye is now with us as her forever home. So she’s fully happy to be puppying around the house with her buddy Ditka right now.”
Ward planned to retire to Colorado where he had been fixing up a cabin. He intended to move there with Skye and build a workshop for his welding and create his blown glass sculptures. The cabin was situated between Denver and the peaks of the Continental Divide.
Ward, 58, died Aug. 28 at Loyola Medical Center. He was injured Aug. 11 while fighting a house fire in the 8300 block of West Balmoral Avenue.
Ward was the third fire department member to die in the line of duty this year. Lt. Jan Tchoryk died of a heart attack while battling a blaze in a Gold Coast high-rise April 5, one day after firefighter Jermaine Pelt died in a South Side fire.
Ward was born in Oxford, England, in 1964. He was preceded in death by his mother, Valerie Ward, and is survived by his father, John Ward, and his sister, Wren Aislinn. He grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and earned an economics degree from the University of Michigan in 1986.
Before joining the fire department , he was an options trader at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, a ski resort employee and hotel chef in Colorado, and a deckhand on a commercial fishing boat in Alaska.
John Ward told the crowd Wednesday that his son was always a curious and smart person. As a kid, Kevin Ward was an avid reader and especially enjoyed reading the book of Guinness World Records and encyclopedias.
“I watched him take his first breath. I watched him take his last breath. I loved him, and I will miss him,” John Ward said through tears.
Dr. Kimberly Krubeck stopped by the church Monday morning to watch the procession and pay her respects. Ward was her dental patient for 20 years.
“He was a great person, just the nicest guy. And he cared a lot about his teeth,” Krubeck said.
She said she spent time with Ward and Walenda socially. Krubeck remembered sitting at a restaurant once with them both and Ward pointing out all the exits to her in case of a fire.
“It’s just a horrible thing to die in the line of duty. He was just doing his job,” Krubeck said.
Pallbearers for Chicago Fire Department Lt. Kevin Ward carry his casket to the hearse after his funeral Wednesday at Fourth Presbyterian Church on the Magnificent Mile. Ward died at Loyola Medical Center, where he was taken from a fire on Aug. 11 in the 8300 block of West Balmoral Avenue on the Northwest Side.
Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times
Mourners hug after the funeral Wednesday for Chicago Fire Department Lt. Kevin Ward at Fourth Presbyterian Church on the Magnificent Mile, Wednesday. Ward died at Loyola Medical Center, where he was taken from a fire on Aug. 11 in the 8300 block of West Balmoral Avenue on the Northwest Side.
Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times
