Firefighters, residents honor fallen hero
BY CHERYL V. JACKSON Cjackson@suntimes.com January 17, 2011 3:14AM
The International Association of Firefighters Honor Guard head into Apostolic Church of God for the visitation for fallen firefighter Corey Ankum on Wednesday. | Scott Stewart~Sun-Times
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Updated: January 31, 2011 12:15AM
Civilians stood alongside uniformed firefighters, police officers and paramedics in a sanctuary at Apostolic Church of God on Wednesday afternoon to honor Corey Ankum, one of the Chicago firefighters who died in a South Side fire last week.
The bravest and the finest alternated with civilians viewing Ankum’s body — one group of uniformed men and women stepping up to salute the firefighter before a group of friends and admirers paid their respects.
Later in the evening, firefighters staged a separate 40-minute procession.
Many Chicago residents in attendance at the wake did not know the 34-year-old father of three, but they wanted to acknowledge his sacrifice.
“I really appreciate the sacrifices he made every day; trying to make sure that everyday people were OK, were safe,” said Kamaria Ngozi, who came to the wake with her son Omari Rasheed, 8. “A good friend of mine works out of the same house; so it kind of hits close to home.”
Ankum was one of two firefighters killed in a Dec. 22 fire at an abandoned South Side building when the roof collapsed.
Edward Stringer, a 12-year veteran Chicago firefighter, also died. His funeral was Tuesday.
Ankum had been with the department for less than two years after serving as a Chicago Police officer.
At the department’s Engine 72, at 79th and South Chicago, he joined his brother, Gerald Glover, a 20-year veteran.
Fellow firefighters remembered Ankum as a guy with a great sense of humor.
“You need it in a job like this,” said Joseph Bowen, a firefighter at Ankum’s firehouse.
Mayor Daley, for whom Ankum’s wife, Demeka, works as a personal assistant, had not yet attended the wake by 6 p.m.
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