The bagpipes and drums of the Emerald Society led the procession as the casket was carried into the church Friday morning. Hundreds of uniformed officers line up in position, standing solemnly, respectful of their lost friend and comrade.

Wortham, 30, is being remembered as a hero. His loss left a big hole in the hearts of his family and those who worked with him every day.

Thomas Wortham IV's father – a retired Chicago police officer – came to his son's aid and shot two of the attackers, killing one of them late Wednesday, police said. Retired police officers are allowed to keep guns.

"This is a tragedy. This young man survived two tours in Iraq, and came home and got murdered on the streets in front of his house that he grew up in. In front of his father, it's just unbelievable," said Chicago Alderman Freddrenna Lyle.

She said she knows the family, who has lived for about three decades in the Chatham neighborhood on the city's South Side.

Wortham was a member of the Wisconsin Army National Guard, said spokeswoman Capt. Joy Staab. He enlisted in April 1999 and was last promoted to 1st Lieutenant in August 2008, she said.

In a Chicago Tribune interview earlier this month Wortham said, "It's starting to feel like it's expected in this community. When people think of the South Side of Chicago, they think violence. In Chatham, that's not what we see. It's happened, and we're going to fix it, so it doesn't happen again." Sadly Worthham fell victim to the very violence he was working to combat.

Wortham was working to make his neighborhood safer for children.

Wortham joined the Police Department in June 2007, according to Chicago police Superintendent Jody Weis.

Visitation was Thursday, May 27th at Leak & Sons Funeral Home, 7838 S. Cottage Grove Ave. A wake is scheduled Friday at noon at Trinity United Church of Christ, 421 W. 95th St., with the funeral expected to begin at 1 p.m. Burial will follow at Lincoln Cemetery in southwest suburban Alsip.

Wortham, a three-year police veteran and Army National Guard first lieutenant who recently returned from a second tour of duty in Iraq, was shot late Wednesday when police say four men tried robbing him of his new motorcycle outside of his parents' Chatham home.

Wortham's father, a retired police sergeant, fatally shot one of the alleged robbers and critically wounded a second. Two others escaped at the time, but one surrendered and the other was arrested during a traffic stop. Both have been charged with first-degree murder and armed robbery.