ALLOUEZ, Wis. — On Monday, Green Bay firefighter Hans M. Hanson received a hero’s burial — 125 years after his death.
Hanson was the first Green Bay firefighter to die in the line of duty. He died in 1892 while responding to a downtown fire.
Though the city paid for his funeral, Hanson had no wife or children and was buried in an unmarked grave. He never received full fire department honors.
Hanson was honored with a headstone at Woodlawn Cemetery in Allouez, reports FOX 11 News.
Even though it’s been more than a century, firefighter officials said the long overdue honor is important.
“We memorialize all firefighters that are killed in the line of duty, and as time has gone on those recognitions have become more set into our culture.” Lt. David Siegel of the Green Bay Metro Fire Department said. “This forgotten brother is being remembered and he will never be forgotten again.”
Hanson is one of nine Green Bay firefighters in history that have lost their lives in the line of duty.