Visitation and Funeral Set For CFD Diver Juan Bucio

CHICAGO, IL -- The visitation and funeral mass for Chicago Fire Department diver Juan Bucio will take place respectively on June 3 and June 4 at St. Rita of Cascia High School, 77th Street and Western Avenue on Chicago’s South Side. Bucio died during a water rescue late Monday evening in the south branch of the Chicago River. CFD officials said the fallen CFD diver will be buried with full honors.

Bucio’s body was escorted by a CFD and Chicago Police Department honor guard from the Cook County Medical Examiner to Blake-Lamb Funeral Home in Oak Lawn. The diver’s death is still under investigation. Bucio and his partner were searching for 28-year-old Alberto Lopez who apparently fell off a boat into the Chicago River. Lopez’s body has still not been found.

The Chicago Fire Department is still waiting for the results of preliminary investigation to determine if Bucio suffered a medical event or possible injury that caused him to go under a fire department boat, ABC 7 Chicago reported. A spokeswoman for the Cook County Medical Examiner said it would likely be several weeks to determine a cause of death.

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Bucio joined the department in 2003 and had been a diver since 2007, officials said. Prior to joining CFD, Bucio was a Chicago police officer from 2000-2003, police confirmed. His sister is a Chicago police officer and his brother is a Chicago firefighter. He is one of nine siblings. Bucio has two sons, ages 7 and 9.

Congressman Dan Lipinski (IL-3) said that Bucio lived in Chicago’s Clearing neighborhood on the Southwest Side.

Visitation will be held from 3 to 9 p.m. Sunday, June 3 at St. Rita of Cascia High School, 7740 S. Western Ave., Chicago. A funeral Mass is planned for noon Monday, also at St. Rita. Interment will be at Mt. Auburn Cemetery, 4101 S. Oak Park Ave, Stickney.

Photos: CFD and CPD honor guard escorts the body of CFD diver Juan Bucio from the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office to Blake-Lamb Funeral Home in Oak Lawn. | Courtesy of Chicago Fire Department