The Associated Press
EVANSTON, Ill. — Exactly 113 years after he died fighting a blaze at a downtown business, Chicago Fire Dept. Lt. Patrick J. O’Donnell finally got a tombstone.
Family members researching their genealogy only recently learned the story of his sacrifice. And when they went to visit his grave in an Evanston cemetery, they found it unmarked.
On Saturday — the anniversary of O’Donnell’s death — family members dedicated a headstone to mark his grave at Calvary Cemetery.
More than 100 of O’Donnell’s descendants and more than 100 Chicago firefighters came out to salute the hero.
O’Donnell was among four firefighters killed while fighting a fire at the Dry Goods and Woolen Exchange at Franklin and Van Buren Streets. A safe on an upper floor fell through the floorboards, burying them in debris.