Mr. Richard W. Gunther and Ms. Colleen M. McLaughlin

Chief Richard W. (Dick) Gunther was born in 1926 in Chicago, Illinois. A life-long resident of Chicago he attended Lane Tech High School. Upon graduation from Lane, he enlisted in the Coast Guard in 1943 at the age of 17. During WWII, he participated in the D-Day invasion of Normandy in 1944, he delivered men and materials to the beaches. In 1946 he joined the Chicago Fire Department (CFD) as a firefighter. Dick Gunther took night classes at IIT to further his education and rose through the ranks as an officer in the CFD. He served as a Lieutenant, Captain, Battalion Chief, and finally Deputy District Chief until cancer related to his occupation forced an early retirement in 1988. Chief Gunther died in February of 1988 at the age of 62 from the cancer that forced his retirement.