Chicago Firefighter Plummer Remembered For Service, Commitment

CHICAGO – MaShawn Plummer had the words “make them proud” on his arm, which marked the mission the man that Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot will remember as a son of the South Side who strived to live with passion and commitment on a daily basis.

Plummer, the Chicago firefighter and EMT who had just celebrated his one-year anniversary with the department shortly before he died from injuries sustained while fighting a fire on the city’s South Side, was remembered Thursday for his service and sacrifice to the city.

Plummer, 30, was assigned to Engine 94 in the city’s Portage Park neighborhood. He died on Dec. 21, five days after he was injured in a fire in Belmont Cragin. The fire, which broke out in the home’s basement around 2 a.m., killed one of the building’s resident and injured two more.

The fire was made worse by high winds, according to reports, and the cause of Plummer's death has not been determined.

During Thursday’s homegoing service, which was held at House of Hope Church, colleagues honored Plummer, who joined the Chicago Fire Department on Dec. 1, 2020 — seven years after he was accepted into the fire academy, officials said during the service.

Annette Nance-Holt, Chicago’s fire commissioner, told attendees that while Plummer’s service to the department was short, his impact was great. She recalled how Plummer often arrived for shifts early and that he brought passion to the job that was similar to his days of playing football at Quincy University, a Catholic liberal arts college in western Illinois.

She joked that Plummer's beloved Chicago Bears could have used the former defensive tackle's abilities this season, but that he embraced his duties as a firefighter with the same energy he displayed on the football field growing up.

“MaShawn was just starting a career that he always wanted,” Nance-Holt said during Thursday's service. “In his short time, he has shown incredible potential and there are no words that can make sense of this terrible loss to our department, to our city.

“While MaShawn had just celebrated his one-year anniversary with the Chicago Fire Department, those who knew him understood that it didn’t take much time for Mashawn to make an impression.”

Nance-Holt called Plummer as a giant of a man who filled a room with his stature as well as his laugh and smile.

But it is Plummer’s sacrifice and service to his community that Lightfoot said should serve as an example to Chicagoans going forward. Prior to the start of Thursday’s service, friends, family members and colleagues paid their final respects to Plummer, who laid in rest dressed in full uniform.

His casket, draped in Chicago’s city flag, included the fire department’s crest and Plummer’s badge number. As fellow firefighters approached their colleague, they stood at attention and offered a military-style salute to Plummer before taking their seats.

A family member read a poem entitled "Keep Going" by Edgar guest, which she said Plummer recited the words to on a daily basis.

"When things go wrong, as they sometimes will, and the road you're trudging seems all uphill, when the funds are low and the debts are high, and you want to smile, but you have to sigh, when care is pressing you down a bit, rest if you must, but don't you quit," the poem starts.

Lightfoot called Thursday a day for the city to pause and pay honor to Plummer’s life, service and pursuit of something greater than himself. The Mayor characterized Plummer as a selfless, dedicated and talented young man who was taken away much too soon.

Plummer grew up with a strong sense of responsibility and an “admirable passion” for serving others, Lightfoot said. Although he grew up with aspirations to one day be an attorney, Plummer’s pursuit of joining the fire department made sense, the Mayor said, because of his mission and passion for service.

“That speaks to the character of who he was,” Lightfoot said. “It’s that endless determination and drive and love of serving his community that made (Plummer) a perfect fit for this department.”

She added: “(Plummer) may have had only one year on the job, but that one year, he gave his all to support his fellow firefighters and protect the people in need on their toughest days and he rendered aid and assistance because that is what he was trained to do, but more importantly, because that was in his heart.”

Lightfoot said Plummer’s passion, service and determination should not only be part of his legacy but as an inspiration to other Chicagoans so that his legacy will live on forever, the mayor said.

“He is our son, our child and our treasure and glory,” Lightfoot said, adding that, “a light that burns bright leaves a lasting legacy.”