Lake Zurich fire, police honor one of their own

The Lake Zurich fire and police departments mourned one of their own Thursday at a wake for 19-year-old Brad Remus, a former fire and police explorer.

Remus died Wednesday after battling non-Hodgkin lymphoma for 18 months. The Harper College student had participated in the fire and police explorer programs for about four years while attending Lake Zurich High School.

Fire Chief Terry Mastandrea said the fire department planned to honor Remus as they would anyone affiliated with the fire service. They planned to have officers and explorers salute him, serve as honor guards, and present the family with a shadowbox containing his badge.

Remus' explorer group planned to stand guard by his casket on a rotating basis throughout the wake. The group wears class B explorer uniforms, and Mastandrea said Remus would wear his uniform as well.

"He never had a negative word to say about anything," Mastandrea said. "He was a positive role model."

Annette Lemky, a longtime neighbor, said Remus got her son into the explorer program as well.

"They especially loved when they did the contained burning where they burned the house," Lemky said. "Of course the fire department was there but the boys had to control the fire so the garage wouldn't burn."

She said Remus also had a strong passion for cars and would often do maintenance on his orange 1970s Camaro. She added his struggle with non-hodgkin's lymphoma did not affect his affable personality.

"He was still Brad," Lemky said. "When he thought he was in remission at one point he had a tattoo made on his arm that I think said 'Won't back down.'"

A funeral will be held at 10:30 a.m. today at St. Matthew Lutheran Church, 24500 N. Old McHenry Rd., Hawthorn Woods. Remus will be buried at the same church's cemetery.