Fire and Police Funerals Galleries

Baltimore County, MD Lays Firefighter To Rest : Saturday, January 24, 2009- Several hundred fellow firefighters, family members and friends gathered on a windy and frigid Saturday January 24th to pay final respects to Baltimore County, MD firefighter Thomas E. Rice. Better known as “TR”, Rice, 44, passed away on January 21st after a courageous battle with pancreatic cancer. Following the service at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen in Baltimore, escorted by dozens of emergency service apparatus, TR’s coffin rode to his to his final resting place in the Fallen Heroes section of Dulaney Valley Memorial Gardens aboard BCoFD Truck 1, where he served as a Fire Apparatus Driver Operator on B Shift. TR, who served with the Baltimore County Fire Department since 1988, was a 28-year member and former captain of the Providence Volunteer Fire Company, and a member of the Kingsville Volunteer Fire Company, was given a funeral with full fire department honors. TR also worked at stations 7 (Essex), 8 (Fullerton), 10 (Parkville) and 11 (Hillendale) during his career, and was an instructor with the Maryland Fire Rescue Institute. Since TR’s diagnosis in September 2007, the Baltimore fire community had rallied around the Rice family, providing meals and support and staging fundraisers for his wife Karen, 18-year-old daughter Becky and 15-year-old son Thomas E. Rice, Jr., who like his father is a member of the Providence Volunteer Fire Company. NOTE - DUE TO THE FAMILY'S REQUEST, GRAVESITE PHOTOS HAVE BEEN REMOVED FROM THIS POSTING.

Baltimore County, MD Lays Firefighter To Rest

Saturday, January 24, 2009- Several hundred fellow firefighters, family members and friends gathered on a windy and frigid Saturday January 24th to pay final respects to Baltimore County, MD firefighter Thomas E. Rice. Better known as “TR”, Rice, 44, passed away on January 21st after a courageous battle with pancreatic cancer. Followi ...

Updated: Jan 24, 2009 9:01pm PST

BCFD FF Honored For Making Supreme Sacrifice In 10-Alarm Blaze : Baltimore, MD – July 2, 2008 – Distinctive sounds filling the air from a pair of Baltimore City Fire Department bagpipers, colorful flags passing with the Honor Guard and a prayer from the department Chaplain lent pomp and circumstance to an event at Clipper Mill on Wednesday night recognizing the Supreme Sacrifice made by a firefighter almost 13 years ago. On September 16, 1995, BCFD Firefighter Eric Dorian Schaefer responded with his crew aboard Rescue 1 to what would end up being a 10-alarm blaze as heavy fire tore through an industrial building in the Clipper Mill complex. It would be FF Schaefer’s final response. “Firefighters encountered a fire that had taken pretty good hold of the midsection of the building,” said BCFD Deputy Chief of Operations Donald Heinbuch. As crews battled the intense conditions in an attempt to save as much of the complex as they could, the 430-foot long wall fell, striking many firefighters, including Schaefer. “It was a night that changed the lives of many,” Heinbuch said. Members of Schaefer’s family, BCFD firefighters, friends, neighborhood residents and others gathered at the site where the firefighter was killed to dedicate a plaque in his memory. During the tribute, Schaefer’s parents were presented with their son’s tattered fire helmet as a way of remembering their son. Originally built in 1851, Clipper Mill historically has been the site of grist mills, machine manufacturing plants, sail cloth and cast iron production. Today, local firm Struever Bros. Eccles & Rouse is historically rehabbing and renovating the site into a mixed-use project boasting art studios, office tenants and residential rental and for sale units. “I think Eric would be proud of what has come out of the ashes,” said Fred Struever. The plaque recognizes the heroic efforts of Schaefer and his colleagues and includes a photo of Schaefer on his graduation day from the BCFD Fire Academy in 1994 and a photo, courtesy of the Baltimore Sun, from the fire scene.

BCFD FF Honored For Making Supreme Sacrifice In 10-Alarm Blaze

Baltimore, MD – July 2, 2008 – Distinctive sounds filling the air from a pair of Baltimore City Fire Department bagpipers, colorful flags passing with the Honor Guard and a prayer from the department Chaplain lent pomp and circumstance to an event at Clipper Mill on Wednesday night recognizing the Supreme Sacrifice made by a firefight ...

Updated: Jul 03, 2008 5:43pm PST

"Homegoing" of Baltimore County Firefighter Jarrett Dixon : By Michael Schwartzberg Baltimore County MD - Jan. 18,2008 - Baltimore County, MD Firefighter Jarrett Dixon, who died in the line of duty on January 12, was remembered in moving services on Friday, January 18 as a man who dedicated his life to serving the community and a hero who shied away from taking credit for helping others. “As we gather today to reflect on Jarrett’s life we remember the service he gave to the lives of others,” said Father Edward Miller of St. Bernadine’s Roman Catholic Church, which was packed with hundreds of firefighters from Baltimore County and across the region in memory of their fallen brother. “Jarrett’s death makes no sense to us,” Father Miller said. “It does not occur in a sense of overwhelming bravery. This morning we bring him back home to the place where his family has been coming week after week, year after year.” Firefighter Dixon, a Fire Apparatus Driver Operator and Paramedic assigned to BCoFD Station 5 in Halethorpe, experienced chest pains while performing physical fitness training at his firehouse and was transported to St. Agnes Hospital. He was later transferred to a second hospital for a cardiac catheterization and was subsequently released. While at home, Firefighter Dixon suffered a seizure, followed by cardiac arrest while being transported to the hospital by Medic 465 of his volunteer station, Liberty Road Volunteer Fire Company. Ironically, Firefighter Dixon was instrumental in encouraging BCoFD to pursue Fire Act grant funding for a department physical fitness program several years ago, recalled BCoFD Chief John Hohman, reminding fellow emergency services professionals and Dixon’s family and friends that the fallen hero “was very proud to be a member of our department.” Captain Ed Sipes, Firefighter Dixon’s supervising officer for the past year, remembered the fallen firefighter as a mentor to young firefighters, “always willing to help, even when he was off-duty.” “His untimely passing will leave a large loss for the members of the Baltimore County Fire Department,” Captain Sipes said. Prior to the service, a long single-file line stretched out the front doors of the church, as firefighters in “dress blues” filed past Firefighter Dixon’s open casket to pay their respects. Following the service, firefighters lined Edmondson Avenue six deep on one side and four deep on the other, as Firefighter Dixon’s flag-draped casket was lifted aboard old BCoFD Engine 5, a 1951 Mack B pumper, for his final call. Firefighter Dixon was buried at Druid Ridge Cemetery in Pikesville, the old Mack engine riding under an American flag hanging from the bucket of Pikesville Volunteer Fire Company Tower 323 and the aerial of BCoFD Truck 8. Prior to serving with BCoFD, Dixon was a campus police officer with the University of Maryland College Park, from which he graduated in the Class of 1994 with a degree in Criminology and Criminal Justice. Dixon had planned a brief career as a police officer and enrolling in law school, but he was bitten by the “firefighter bug” and joined LRVFC in June 1993. He served in many capacities with LRVFC, including holding the rank of 1st Fire Lieutenant and a member of the Board of Directors. Firefighter Dixon was one of the company’s Top 10 fire (304 calls) and EMS (147 calls) responders in 1994. Dixon graduated from the Baltimore County Fire Academy in 1997, and served in many roles with the department, including firefighter, paramedic, engine driver, and fire academy instructor. During his career, Dixon worked at stations 1 (Towson), 2 (Pikesville), 5 (Halethorpe), 7 (Essex), 8 (Fullerton) and 18 (Randallstown). In lieu of flowers, the family has requested a trust fund be set up for Gavin Dixon, Firefighter Dixon’s 5-year-old son. Donations should be made payable to State Farm Mutual Fund and mailed to State Farm Insurance, PO Box 87, Randallstown, MD 21133, Attn: Melinda Lathe. Please note “Gavin Dixon Trust Fund” on any donations.

"Homegoing" of Baltimore County Firefighter Jarrett Dixon

By Michael Schwartzberg Baltimore County MD - Jan. 18,2008 - Baltimore County, MD Firefighter Jarrett Dixon, who died in the line of duty on January 12, was remembered in moving services on Friday, January 18 as a man who dedicated his life to serving the community and a hero who shied away from taking credit for helping others. ...

Updated: Jan 18, 2008 4:45pm PST

Funeral Procession - MdTA Cpl. Courtney Brooks : Maryland Transportation Authority Police Department Corporal Courtney G. Brooks, who was fatally struck during a traffic detail on I-95 in Baltimore City on New Year’s Eve, was buried with full department honors on January 7. Firefighters from several Baltimore County Fire volunteer companies and career stations lined the funeral procession route, including Pikesville Volunteer Fire Company Engine 321 and Squad 322, who were situated on Interstate 83 at the city/county line. Dozens of police units and hundreds of officers from across the region, along with strong support from other public safety agencies, participated in the funeral procession in honor and memory of Cpl. Brooks. Cpl. Brooks was buried at Dulaney Valley Memorial Gardens.

Funeral Procession - MdTA Cpl. Courtney Brooks

Maryland Transportation Authority Police Department Corporal Courtney G. Brooks, who was fatally struck during a traffic detail on I-95 in Baltimore City on New Year’s Eve, was buried with full department honors on January 7. Firefighters from several Baltimore County Fire volunteer companies and career stations lined the funeral proce ...

Updated: Jan 07, 2008 9:01pm PST

26th Annual National Fallen Firefighters Memorial : Ninety-one firefighters who gave their lives in the line of duty were honored on the first weekend of October, 2007 at the 26th annual National Fallen Firefighters Memorial. "The bond between the firefighters is obviously unique; it is definitely a source of strength", President George W. Bush told families and friends of the fallen heroes. "And it's a reminder that the work here is a calling, not a job." The weekend opened with the ninth annual Red Helmets Ride, where several hundred motorcylists arrived at the National Fire Academy campus in Emmitsburg under an American flag hanging from the ladders of Tower 6 of the Emmitsburg Volunteer Fire Department and Walkersville Fire Department Quint 11. A ceremonial wreath was laid at at the memorial, while Baltimore City Firefighter Bob McCurdy (a member of the Fire Brigade Pipes & Drums of Greater Baltimore) played the bagpipes and a honor guard from the Jacksonville Fire Department paid tribute to fallen colleagues. A highlight of the weekend was a receently unveiled sculpture by Stan Watts depicting the three FDNY firefighters raising a flag among the rubble at Ground Zero on September 11, 2001. Each firefighter stands more than 19 feet tall, surrounding a flag pole about four stories tall and an authentic American flag. The base includes 343 stones, one for each of the FDNY LODDs.

26th Annual National Fallen Firefighters Memorial

Ninety-one firefighters who gave their lives in the line of duty were honored on the first weekend of October, 2007 at the 26th annual National Fallen Firefighters Memorial. "The bond between the firefighters is obviously unique; it is definitely a source of strength", President George W. Bush told families and friends of the fallen heroe ...

Updated: Oct 10, 2007 8:57pm PST