South Holland firefighter, 29, mourned at funeral services
“He brought joy to every person he met.”
— Laura Nye Cunningham, Dylan’s fiancee
Dylan Cunningham and his fiancee, Laura Nye Cunningham, had put wedding plans on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but she had added his name as her surname.
She told mourners at his funeral Wednesday that she and Dylan “are two peas in a pod. We are exactly alike.”
“He taught me what true love really is,” she said.
Cunningham, a 29year-old member of the South Holland Fire Department died Sept. 30 following an underwater dive incident at Haigh Quarry in Kankakee.
They learned in
April that she was pregnant, Laura Cunningham said. They had already named their son, due in December, William
Thomas Cunningham.
“He couldn’t wait to tell everyone,” she said. “We knew all hewantedwas a son.”
She called him “the most genuine person I have ever met inmy entire life”
“He brought joy to every person he met,” she said.
Cunningham began working part time for the SouthHolland department in 2011 and was sworn in full time in 2018. He lived in nearby Thornton.
He joined the Illinois Army National Guard in 2012, and earlier this year achieved the rank of sergeant, according to an obituary released by the family.
“He’s the best of the best, he loved the job,” South Holland fire Chief Brian Kolosh told mourners during a service at Smits Funeral Home in Dyer, Indiana.
Kolosh called Cunningham a “rock star” of a firefighter.
“He lovedworking for South Holland, he loved coming to work and doing his job,” Kolosh said.
Dylan’s sister, Courtney Cunningham, said her brother always tried to make her laugh, and that his dream job was becoming a firefighter.
“Dylan never quit anything, anything,” she said. “Cunninghams aren’t quitters.”
Dylan’s younger brother, Cody Cunningham, also spoke at the funeral home.
“I miss you somuchright now as does the rest of the world,” he said.
He said that growing up, “we shared everything,” and that he inherited his older brother’s hand-medown clothes and sports gear. Together, they enjoyed activities including shooting, riding dirt bikes and scuba diving.
“Hewas such a fish inthe water, itwas truly a sight to see,” Cody said.
The Rev. Daniel Svendsen, the SouthHolland Fire Department’s chaplain, said Dylan Cunningham was a “wonderful human being, a bright spot in our community and our collective lives.”
A procession of fire vehicles traveled from the funeral home to St. John Roman Catholic Church in Glenwood, beneath a large U.S. flag strung between two fire department tower ladders at the intersection of Cottage Grove Avenue and Glenwood- Lansing Road.
Standing nearby, Pete Wachowski, whoserved for five years as a paid on-call firefighter and emergency medical technician for the Glenwood Fire Department, said he had to come out and pay his respects.
“Knowing what these guys go through I thought it would be respectful to come out here,” he said.
A South Holland fire engine bearing Cunningham’s casket, draped in an U.S. flag, pulled up to the frontdoorsof the church, as firefighters gingerly lifted it from the vehicle and pallbearers carried it into the church.
Family and close friends went inside for a brief service then returned and sat in rows of chairs in a semicircle facing the casket
Nearby stood dozens of first responders in dress uniforms. The Pipes and Drums of the Chicago Police Department and the Associated Fire Fighters of Illinois Honor Guard
played “Amazing Grace,” followed by a lone trumpeter playing taps.
The flag covering the casket was neatly folded and handed to Cunning
ham’s mother, Rosemary, with her husband, Patrick, standing to her left and
other family members, including Courtney Cunningham and Laura Nye Cun
ningham, to her right.