Services Scheduled For Lodi Honorary Firefighter, 5

LODI, N.J. — Services for a 5-year-old Lodi honorary firefighter who died after nearly a year of treatment for brain tumors were scheduled for Saturday at St. Francis Church in Hackensack.

Dariel Ramirez, 5, of Lodi, in physical therapy.
Photo Credit: *Courtesy of Allen Ramirez*

Joshua Jongsma

03/04/2016 9:48 a.m.

Dariel Ramirez, also known as Deej, died Thursday at Hackensack University Medical Center. Visitation will be from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., with a Mass at 1 p.m. at the church, 50 Lodi St.

Dariel was a kindergartner at Roosevelt Elementary School in Lodi. He started having headaches and falling asleep in school, and in June 2015 had his first surgery to treat the tumors.

His father, Allen Ramirez, said Dariel's favorite word was love.

""He was always so active," Allen Ramirez said of his son, "always singing songs and taking a word and turns it into a song. He's a really, really nice kid that always was really loving."

The Lodi Fire Department recently made Dariel an honorary firefighter, and brought Santa to visit him around Christmas.

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