A chilly wind and overcast skies served as the setting Wednesday morning for a final goodbye to William Grant, the Chicago firefighter who was killed Friday when a school bus collided with the fire truck he was in while he and three other Chicago firefighters were on a call.

The procession from Blake-Lamb Funeral Home in Oak Lawn to Christ the King Church in Beverly headed east on 103rd Street through Grant's home neighborhood of Beverly. From Milwaukee to Detroit, fellow firefighters joined the procession as it passed hundreds of school children, parents who had bundled up their infants against the 50-degree temperature and longtime residents of a neighborhood that has mourned his passing but celebrated his life in these last several days.

Along the route, which stretched from 103rd Street and Cicero Avenue to the church at 9235 S. Hamilton Ave., thousands said their final goodbyes to a man who served his family, his neighborhood and his city.