By Nell Salzman, Angie Leventis Lourgos
Chicago Tribune
CHICAGO 鈥� As 鈥淎mazing Grace鈥� played softly, hundreds of mourners gathered on the city鈥檚 South Side Friday to say goodbye to Chicago Firefighter Jermaine Pelt, who last week.
Two firetrucks adorned with flowers and an American flag parked outside the 11 a.m. funeral service at House of Hope, following a procession from Blake-Lamb Funeral Home in Oak Lawn. A banner with Pelt鈥檚 smiling face hung over the parking lot. It read, 鈥淚n memory of Jermaine A. Pelt who died Tuesday April 4, 2023鈥�
Inside the church, Pelt鈥檚 body was in a silver casket draped with a Chicago flag. Minister and officiator Ron Roby directed everyone in the audience to stand except for Pelt鈥檚 mother and father.
鈥淲hen you have a great brother like Jermaine, you have to recognize he came from great stock,鈥� Roby said.
Roby called it a celebration of life. He told members to turn to their neighbor and give them a 鈥淛ermaine-type鈥� smile.
Pelt鈥檚 funeral came just one day after the city grieved another firefighter killed in the line of duty.
On Thursday, hundreds of mourners gathered at St. Joseph Ukrainian Catholic Church in Chicago to remember veteran Chicago firefighter , who died fighting an extra-alarm blaze at a Gold Coast neighborhood high-rise on April 5, the day after Pelt鈥檚 death.
The department has called the
Pelt was raised in the West Pullman neighborhood and walked his only daughter down the aisle at her wedding last fall.
The firefighter鈥檚 father, John Pelt, has described his son as smart, ambitious and 鈥渢he kindest person I鈥檝e ever met.鈥�
Pelt graduated from Corliss High School and attended Olive-Harvey College. He recently became an instructor at the city鈥檚 fire academy and was also a registered nurse and paramedic. Hundreds of firefighters attended a visitation for Pelt on Thursday in Oak Lawn.
Capt. Rory Ohse, who worked alongside Pelt, told the Tribune he 鈥渉ad a devotion to this job and this neighborhood.鈥�
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