Funeral procession takes Kansas City EMT killed by coronavirus to final resting place
Loved ones, colleagues and friends celebrated the life of a Kansas City Fire Department EMT on Wednesday, laying to rest a man who became a victim of the coronavirus pandemic while working to save lives.
Billy Birmingham on April 13 became the first person in the city to die from the coronavirus in the line of duty, as Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas said.
Birmingham had responded to numerous service calls involving patients with COVID-19, the Associated Press reported. His death is the first known line-of-duty death of a Missouri first responder with the illness.
Wednesday’s funeral procession departed from Duane Harvey Funeral Home and wound past the fire department’s Eastwood station, Station 35 on Emanuel Cleaver II Boulevard and Station 29 on East 63rd Street.
Birmingham was buried during a private ceremony at the Forest Hill Cemetery.
The 69-year-old began working with Metropolitan Ambulance Service in 1998 and spent the past decade with the Kansas City Fire Department.
“His passing represents a personal loss to all of us who knew him and cherished both his friendship and professionalism,” Fire Chief Donna Maize said.
Last week, the city turned on the Firefighter’s Fountain and Memorial at 31st and Pennsylvania in honor of Birmingham.
“Our daddy gave his life in the line of duty and we are so proud of him,” Birmingham’s eldest daughter, Octavia Standley, said through tears during last week’s fountain-side remembrance. “I want everybody to know that you didn’t just have a man out there, you had somebody who loved what he was doing.”
Birmingham’s family said he loved to spend his free time fishing and bowling. But they remembered him most for his faith, calling him a Christian man who prayed often, both alone and with others.
His son, Bill Birmingham, said he most often hears his father described as selfless.
“He touched people. He really touched people,” Bill Birmingham said last week, standing alongside Standley. “The Bible says you will know my disciples because they have loved one for another, and he loved people and people loved him.”
This story was originally published April 22, 2020 at 2:19 PM.
