‘Heart of a lion:’ Captain Rinaldo remembered at Cathedral of Mary Our Queen

Exactly one week after Baltimore bid a somber farewell to Baltimore City EMT-Firefighter Rodney Pitts III, thousands returned to the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen Nov. 3 to pay tribute to Baltimore City Fire Department Captain Dillon J. Rinaldo.

A United States Marine salutes the caisson of fallen Baltimore City firefighter Capt. Dillon J. Rinaldo Nov. 3, 2023, at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen in Homeland. (Kevin J. Parks/CR Staff)

Both firefighters died of injuries sustained in battling a two-alarm fire that ravaged several row homes along Linden Heights Avenue in Northwest Baltimore Oct. 19. Pitts died that same day and Rinaldo succumbed to his injuries Oct. 24.

Before the start of Rinaldo’s ecumenical funeral service, onlookers ringed the front of the cathedral in complete silence as white-gloved pallbearers hoisted Rinaldo’s casket from Baltimore City Fire Engine 13 and carried it into the cathedral.

Among the many rows of firefighters from across the country who raised their right hands to the brims of their caps in a sustained salute were members of Rinaldo’s former fire department in Fair Lawn, N.J.

The son of Ralph Rinaldo, a volunteer firefighter in Fair Lawn, Dillon Rinaldo had wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps from the time he was a toddler. He served with his father as a volunteer on Fair Lawn’s Company Four Engine for several years before being accepted into the Baltimore City Fire Academy in 2017.

Rinaldo’s body was transported in a motorcade from Duda-Ruck Funeral Home in Dundalk, passing beneath a large American flag held between two extended ladders at the cathedral. As the procession made its way to the cathedral, a team of 48 bagpipers, including some from Rinaldo’s native New Jersey, paid tribute to the fallen officer in mournfully melodic wails.

The caisson for fallen Baltimore City firefighter Capt. Dillon J. Rinaldo makes its way up the drive to the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen in Homeland. (Kevin J. Parks/CR Staff)

Rinaldo, a Catholic who was set to be married to Lauren Ridlon in May at St. Paul in Ellicott City, was remembered by civic and religious leaders as a born leader who inspired others around him.

Speaking on behalf of Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, Lt. Gov. Aruna Miller called Rinaldo a hero.

Being a hero means doing the things others aren’t willing to do, Miller said. It also means “living with compassion for those you love and those you don’t” and “getting up in the morning and leaving the house, knowing that you may not make it back,” she said.

“That was Captain Dillon Rinaldo,” she said.

Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott highlighted Rinaldo’s leadership skills that blossomed at a young age. Rinaldo was the valedictorian of his Baltimore City Fire Department Academy class and served as a city firefighter for six years. He was promoted to lieutenant at age 25 and was posthumously elevated to the rank of captain at age 26.

“Leadership has never been about the grays on your head or the length of your tooth,” the mayor said. “Leadership has been and always will be about what is in you and your willingness to unlock it. Dillon decided to unlock the leader in him at a very young age.”

Baltimore Fire Department Chief James Wallace called the loss of Rinaldo “immeasurable.”

“Whether it was in the fire station or while performing community safety and engagement activities, or responding to emergency calls, Captain Rinaldo was a shining personification of dedication, bravery and selflessness within the Baltimore City Fire Department,” Wallace said. “His unwavering commitment to the wellbeing of others serves as an inspiration to all who had the privilege of working alongside him.”

Joshua Fannon, Battalion Chief with the Baltimore City Fire Department and president of the International Association of Fire Fighters Local 964, remembered that when Rinaldo first arrived at Engine Company 13 from an assignment in the Brooklyn section of the city, he had to win the trust of new colleagues who had a reputation for not welcoming newcomers.

Family of fallen Baltimore City firefighter Capt. Dillon J. Rinaldo are escorted into the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen in Homeland. (Kevin J. Parks/CR Staff)

Located at 405 McMechen St. in West Baltimore, the station is affectionately known as “Club 405,” he said, and is in a part of the city where there are many fires.

“They are skilled veterans,” Fannon explained. “When someone new walks through those doors, they have to know they can put their life in that person’s hand as that person can trust their life in theirs. It didn’t take them long to recognize that Dillon was in possession of all the qualities of an excellent firefighter.”

Rinaldo was smart and physically imposing – but a “gentle giant,” Fannon said.

Ridlon, Rinaldo’s finance, called her longtime boyfriend “larger than life” and a man of great humility. Integrity was the “backbone” of his leadership, she said.

“He was fair and firm,” she said. “He led by example.”

Ridlon added that Rinaldo was “the love of my life.”

“I will love him endlessly,” she said.

The Rev. Terrence Murphy, a fire chaplain and the Charismatic Episcopal pastor of Christ the Redeemer Ministries in the Pigtown neighborhood of Baltimore, noted that Dillon is an Irish name that means “like a lion.” It’s a name that perfectly embodies Rinaldo, Rev. Murphy said.

Family and friends wait for the caisson of fallen Baltimore City firefighter Capt. Dillon J. Rinaldo. (Kevin J. Parks/CR Staff)

“When a lion roars, the sound reverberates and is deafening and awe-inspiring when it is heard from nearby,” said Rev. Murphy, whose son was a pallbearer at the funeral. “A roar from a lion can be heard from within five miles. We heard a lion roar and we have felt it – a lion named Dillon. It has changed us. His roar reverberated in our souls and in our hearts and we will never forget.”

Kacey Merrill, who attended the fire academy with Rinaldo and later got to know him more closely when they worked together in the Fifth Battalion in the same part of the city, was among the many mourners at the funeral. Merrill serves with Engine Company 45 and Rinaldo was on Engine 46 as a lieutenant.

Rindaldo took time mentoring rookies, she said, and he encouraged others like herself to pursue leadership roles.

“He told me to study, work hard and train hard and then don’t let anybody keep you from moving up the ranks,” said Merrill, a parishioner of Immaculate Heart of Mary in Baynesville.

Merrill, 41, said she sometimes joked with her friend about his youth.

Poignant art created by a student at The School of the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen for fallen Baltimore City firefighter Capt. Dillon J. Rinaldo is displayed on the wall of the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen in Homeland. (Kevin J. Parks/CR Staff)

“He looked so young, but he had a great maturity about him,” she said. “I would tease him and call him an old soul. He took his job seriously.”

Father Louis Bianco, rector of the cathedral, and Father Justin Gough, associate pastor, participated in the ecumenical service. As they had done a week earlier for Pitts’ funeral, children at the School of the Cathedral drew posters thanking Rinaldo for his service. The artwork was attached to columns throughout the cathedral, proclaiming messages such as “your memory serves as a constant reminder of the sacrifices made by our firefighting heroes” and “thank you for your service.”

Ridlon had a challenge for all those attending the funeral and watching on livestream.

“Live like Dillon,” she said. “Live your life with the heart of a lion.”

Email George Matysek at gmatysek@CatholicReview.org

To view more photos from the funeral, visit https://catholicreview.smugmug.com/Funeral-of-BCFF-Capt-Dillon-Rinaldo/ of click through the slideshow below: