Funeral plans for a local Marine killed in a training operation

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - The body of a local Marine killed in a training exercise returns home Friday afternoon.

Sgt. Kyle Weninger, 28, died on June 16 doing a parachute jump at the Army’s Ford Benning facility in Georgia.

His body is expected to land at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport around 4 p.m. and he will be given a police escort to the DeJohn Funeral Home at 28890 Chardon Road in Willoughby Hills.

Weninger’s wake is Monday, July 6 from 2-4 and 5-8 at the DeJohn Funeral Home.

His funeral is Tuesday, July 7 at 11 at St. Anselm Catholic Church in Chesterland.

After five years in the Marines, Weninger was chosen and successfully completed training for the Marine Forces Special Operations Command. He was training to become a paratrooper when he was killed.

His parents Ernie Weninger and Michelle Henry and their entire family are staggered by the loss of their son.

“I think the hardest time right now is I wake up every morning and just can’t imagine that he’s not going to come walking through that door, ever,” said Henry.

Sgt Weninger is a Kenston High School graduate where his football and hockey teammates knew him as Kyle, but when Weninger joined the Marines, and his friends learned his first name was actually Wolfgang, he soon became known as Wolf.

The name fit, Weninger’s parents were told, by a Marine commander, because of their son’s unconquerable spirit.

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