On what would have been his 41st birthday, Ralston Fire Chief Kyle Ienn was remembered Saturday as a visionary leader and dedicated community servant at funeral services held at Ralston High School.
Ienn, who lived in Papillion with his family, was found dead at 69th and Pine streets in Omaha on Jan. 31 of an apparent suicide.
Saturday, more than 1,200 people — including firefighters and emergency medical personnel from some two dozen fire departments across Nebraska and from as far away as Chicago and Milwaukee — braved a winter storm to pay their last respects.
"It's said that in public service, you put the public good above personal gain," Ralston Mayor Don Groesser said. "In serving Ralston, Kyle did just that. We will always remember the modest, decent, natural way he went about his service and the community will always be grateful for his service."
A 22-year veteran of the Ralston Volunteer Fire Department, Ienn served the last 12 years as RVFD chief.
He was also active in several national and international organizations related to the fire service, including the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation, the International Association of Fire Chiefs, the National Council on Fireworks Safety and the National Honor Guard Commanders Association.
As part of his efforts with the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation, Ienn worked on the Everyone Goes Home Program as a state representative from Nebraska.
Closer to home, Ienn was instrumental in securing grants from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to grow his department to 56 members in 2011 - the largest the RVFD had ever been.
At the conclusion of the service and with the snow falling harder outside, Ralston and La Vista firefighters lined the entrance to Ralston High School as Ienn's casket, draped in purple, was loaded onto one of RVFD's antique fire engines for the trip to Calvary Cemetery at 72nd and Mercy streets.
Ladder trucks from the Papillion and La Vista fire departments extended their apparatuses in a salute as a steady stream of fire engines from area departments created a long red line en route to the cemetery.
Larry Forman, a friend of Ienn's and legal counsel for RVFD, said Ienn was a consummate booster of all things Ralston.
"The guy was just amazing," Forman said. "Look at his life and what he did. He was a the forefront of everything in this community. He was a spokesman. Anytime we had a problem, you had this young, articulate spokesman to tell you about it."
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