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Excerpts from the ChicagoTribune.com:
After returning from combat in the Pacific during World War II, Russell Harper joined the West Chicago Police Department as an officer. Not long after, his father, a battalion chief with the Chicago Fire Department, handed him a firefighter application and said, “You’re not going to get rich doing this, but I guarantee it’s one of the most rewarding careers you could ever have.†These words, shared by his son Ron, would shape the path that Harper would follow.
Harper, who had three brothers also become firefighters in the Chicago area, completed the application and was accepted into the Chicago Fire Department (CFD) in 1948. He was assigned to several firehouses on the Near West Side. At 94 years old, Harper passed away on February 16 in Glendale, Arizona. He had lived on the Northwest Side for many years before retiring from the fire department in 1985 after 37 years of service. A year later, he moved to Arizona.
“He saw running into burning buildings all as part of the job,†said his son, a retired lieutenant with the Hoffman Estates Police Department. “He used to say, ‘It’s what I signed up for.’â€
Born and raised on the West Side, Harper graduated from Crane Tech High School. In 1952, he received the prestigious Carter H. Harrison Award, given annually since 1885 to members of the Chicago Fire and Police departments for acts of bravery in protecting life or property.
According to a Chicago Tribune article at the time, Harper and his crew responded to a fire at 1226 S. Kedzie Ave. on November 1, 1951. He entered the burning first-floor apartment to rescue a woman who was burned and unconscious on the kitchen floor. After carrying her to safety, Harper collapsed on the sidewalk. He was taken to the hospital and eventually recovered.
“It happened back when there was no such thing as breathing apparatuses,†said his younger brother, Bill, a retired West Chicago fire chief. “During that rescue, Russ’ lungs were filled with smoke, and he barely made it out of that building alive.â€
In the years that followed, Harper served as a captain on the North Side with Engine 83, located at 1219 W. Gunnison St. He and his team were the first to arrive at the scene when American Flight 191 crashed in Elk Grove Village just minutes after takeoff from O’Hare International Airport in May 1979.
Before retiring in 1985, his final assignment was as captain at O’Hare Airport.
Harper is survived by his wife of 73 years, Elia; a daughter, Penelope Campana; six grandchildren, and ten great-grandchildren. His legacy lives on through the countless lives he touched during his decades of service.