Les' wake and funeral were a tribute to him and his service as a Addison Firefighter.
At the wake on Thursday at Humes Funeral home, the Department had a Honor Guard for Les. At 19:00 we had a walk thru with the active and retired personal.
On Friday we met at the church for a last viewing. At the church Chief Markcowski presented Joan with a Addison Fire Department Flag and Deputy Chief Burke hosted the last alarm bell ringing . We proceeded to the cemetery in Northlake and the procession enter under the arch of two of our Ariel ladder trucks. At the grave site the United States Navy played taps and presented Joan with a United States Flag from the president. With 30 + Addison Fire Members strong we then gave Les our final salute.
To the Lieutenant, who at 7:15:05 ran through the bunk room with a bed spread covering his head and body, hunched over with a 16" hump on his back yelling I am Count Dracula and I want your blood. Making the crew all laugh after being up half the night on calls.
To the Fireman who always got us 4 beers even though he had only 2 digits left.
To the friend, who gave my sons their first haircut.
To the best iguana trainer the department had.
Who could tell the city bus drivers that Adventureland was 4 and 1/2 miles down the road before they said a word.
And when we get to Heaven we will have to hear all the jokes, he played on his friends up there .
MAY YOU REST IN PEACE
Family, Friends, Church, Fire Fighters, & Navy participated in respectful & sentimental services for Les. I'll miss the endless supply of stories and the angel/devil spark in his eyes when he smiled.
ReplyDeletePat
I am extremely grateful to all affiliated with the Addison Fire Department. The honor and respect given to my father has touched my family and I very deeply. He loved every one of you and wanted to remain involved in the fire service as much as life would allow him.
ReplyDeleteThank you all for sharing his life and being his friends. I've never known a better bunch of guys and I'll never forget all that has been done for Les and the Kopecky family.
Jay Kopecky