OAK LAWN, Ill. — Hours after a Chicago fire lieutenant was laid to rest, the community is getting ready to say a final farewell to another fallen member.

Chicago firefighter Jermaine Pelt, 49, died last week while responding to a fire in the city’s West Pullman neighborhood.

Visitation services were held on Thursday in Oak Lawn.

He lived a life of putting others first.

“People like him, always positive, always someone I could depend on,” CFD Battalion Chief Capt. Christopher Olszewski said. “Always someone everyone could depend on.”

He joined the department in 2005 and was also a registered nurse, a paramedic and an instructor at the fire academy.

Those who knew him say smart, ambitious and kind-hearted only scratch the surface of the type of person he was.

“Pelt could cook,” Olszewski said. “I don’t think there was a pot he didn’t use in the kitchen and luckily I was his officer so I didn’t have to clean them.”

The veteran firefighter leaves behind a 6-year-old son and he recently celebrated his daughter’s marriage.

As his brothers and sisters on the department and loved ones prepare to lay Pelt to rest, many said it’s the memories of his positive and kind spirit that are helping them cope with his loss.

“He was always there for us,” Olszewski said. “Always had a smile on his face.”

Olszewski served as Pelt’s captain for the last four and a half years. He said when they moved from a single-engine house to a triple house, he was what made the transformation possible.

“Jermaine was the rock I leaned on,” he said.

Moments like this are being shared and show the impact Pelt had on so many. It’s an impact that is wide-reaching to strangers alike, including Juan Cayetano.

“The hard work that they do every single second of the day, and minute, is here,” Cayetano, with The Wood Crafters by Luz and Juan.

Cayetano created a hand-crafted piece that took more than 70 hours to make. It’s his way of saying thank you for Pelt’s service and showing his family the community has their back.

“We have two kids who are autistic,” Cayetano said. “They love firefighters, in general, first responders, so we did the same for Officer Lasso.”

It’s a tribute to a man who exemplified the meaning of bravery, courage and heroism until his last call.

“He was a great fireman, a better friend and we’ll miss him,” Olszewski said.