Oak Lawn Residents Asked to Show Support for Fallen Firefighter

Oak Lawn Village Trustee Tom Phelan sent an e-mail blast to Oak Lawn residents asking them to line 103rd Street on Tuesday morning in a show of support for fallen Chicago firefighter Edward Stringer Sr.

The procession for Stringer's casket will start from the Blake-Lamb Funeral Home, 4727 W. 103rd St., at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 28. The current route of the procession is east on 103rd Street to Western; then north to St. Rita of Cascia Parish, 6243 S Fairfield Ave., for a 10 a.m. funeral Mass.

Residents are being asked to line 103rd Street east of the funeral home to Western Avenue for the procession.

"Just as we did for Firefighter Brian Carey and U.S. Army SPC Jared Stanker," Phelan's e-blast said.

"We did the same thing with (Homewood firefighter) Brian Carey and had another great showing. Both were in warmer weather so that may be a factor," Phelan said in an e-mail to Patch.

Stringer was killed on Dec. 22 with fellow firefighter Corey Ankum after putting out an extra-alarm fire at a vacant business in Chicago's South Shore neighborhood. The men were looking for homeless persons that may have been inside the building when the roof collapsed.

The fallen firefighter lived in the Garfield Ridge neighborhood, according to U.S. Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-IL), who asked for prayers for Stringer's family at last week's ceremony announcing the completion of the Oak Lawn railway quiet zone.

The wake for Stringer will start at 3 p.m. Monday, at the Blake-Lamb Funeral Home. A firefighter's walk-through, where firefighters throughout the Chicago region gather to pay their respects and salute their fallen brother, takes place at 6:30 p.m.

Residents should be aware of 103rd Street lane reductions and possible intermittent closures from 3 to 9 p.m. on Monday.

Parking for the Tuesday funeral is planned for Keating and Kilpatrick avenues between 103rd and 105th streets, with street parking restrictions in effect from 6 to 10 a.m.

Also, 103rd Street will be closed in both directions beginning at 7 a.m. Tuesday.

Another fire department walk-through is also scheduled for 7:15 a.m., with an open walkthrough taking place at 7:45 a.m. Tuesday.