Starting at Pine Grove Community Church, fire trucks, police vehicles and city trucks joined the procession along Courtney Street on the way to Northland Memorial Cemetery. Dave Melancon photo

By Eileen Persike

Editor

The community paid their respects to Rhinelander Fire Asst. Chief Dan Bauer Thursday afternoon as a funeral procession traveled through town.

Bauer, 42, died unexpectedly Nov. 2.  He served nearly 19 years as a firefighter and paramedic.

“It all seemed like a horrible dream that we all wanted to wake up from but just can’t,” Fire Chief Brian Tonnancour said to city council members Nov. 11. “This is something that every chief and department dreads. Burying a member of our family. That’s what we are. We’re all family in our department.

“Our job is inherently dangerous, and we would give our lives for one another. We work, eat, sleep and play together. We support each other when one is hurting and make fun of each other when we’re together, because that’s what a family does.”

Tonnancour added that everyone should work together toward common goals to make this city, community and surrounding communities better protected and safer to live. “That is what Dan was striving for and that is what we will continue to do in his name.”

He also thanked the community for their support.

“It has been immense and we feel extremely blessed,” Tonnancour said. “We will come out of this in time and we will be stronger and more united than ever before. This is the very definition of community and this is why we all choose to live and work here.”

Bauer is survived by his wife Jenna and four children.  A memorial fund has been set up by the Fire Department at Peoples State Bank in Rhinelander; additionally, donations to a college fund for each of the four children may also be made at Peoples State Bank.