Visitation Saturday for Arlington Hts. firefighter

Two visitations-- one here, one in Indiana -- will be held for the Arlington Heights firefighter who died last weekend in a pool cleaning accident.

A wake for Donald Swisher will be held Saturday in Arlington Heights and on Sunday in St. John, Ind. The funeral service and burial will be Monday in Indiana.

The Arlington Heights visitation will be held from 2 to 8 p.m. Saturday at Glueckert Funeral Home, 1520 N. Arlington Heights Road.

On Sunday, the visitation will be held from 2 to 8 p.m. at the Fagen Miller Funeral Home, 8580 Wicker Ave. in St. John, Ind. Call (219) 365-2674 for driving directions.

On Monday, prayers will be said at 9:30 a.m. at the funeral home, followed by a procession to St. Michael Church, 1 W. Wilheim St., in Schererville, Ind. for a 10:30 a.m. funeral service. He will be buried at Chapel Lawn Memorial Gardens in Schererville.

Swisher grew up in northwest Indiana.

A longtime Arlington Heights firefighter, Swisher, 51, died Sunday while cleaning a swimming pool near Vernon Hills. Authorities believe an extra weight belt contributed to Swisher's drowning.

He joined the Arlington Heights Fire Department in 1992 and became a paramedic in 1995, and an engineer in 2000. He worked mostly at the station at 3030 N. Arlington Heights Road, where Swisher had two roles. Officially, he was the cook; unofficially, the handyman everyone turned to when something broke.

Firefighters at the station wore black bands around their badges in Swisher's honor this week.

Swisher previously worked for the Mundelein Fire Department and served in the Navy for about 10 years.

Divorced, his grown twin sons live in Florida.