A 19-year-old volunteer firefighter who died suddenly was memorialized by a Chesterfield County Fire and EMS Honor Guard — complete with bagpipes — at his funeral Thursday at Victory Tabernacle Church of God.
About 500 people turned out to remember and pay tribute to Jordan Kuzik, a Manchester High School graduate who became a Chesterfield volunteer firefighter nearly two years ago.
His dream since age 2 was to become a career firefighter, said Kuzik’s mother, who believes heart complications and a recent bout with norovirus may have contributed to his death.
“It just seemed he was here on a mission to accomplish something, and it was firefighting,” said his mother, Darcie Kuzik.
Less than two months before his planned wedding to Monica Alvarez — “the love of his life” — Kuzik died suddenly on Jan. 23.
Kuzik proposed to Alvarez on July 7, and the couple planned to wed on March 15.
Kuzik would have turned 20 in April.