TIVERTON, Rhode Island (10 Aug 2008) — The Fire Department radio crackled: "Last call to roll call number 14." Mourners heard the broadcast at the gravesite of Lt. Gerald R. Leduc. While Leduc's family and fellow firefighters gathered around his casket in Notre Dame Cemetery, across the state line in Fall River, a dispatcher formally recalled the rescue effort that had begun at 6:56 p.m. last Sunday with an order to "respond to Stafford Pond for a man drowned." "With regret, the Tiverton Fire Department announces the death of our brother, Gerald R. Leduc," the dispatcher continued. "His efforts will be an inspiration to us all," the broadcast concluded. A bell pealed a total of 40 times, twice repeating the traditional signal for a fallen firefighter, which had been included in the broadcast, "Five five, five five. Five five, five five. 55-55." For hours yesterday, Fire Chief Robert Lloyd had led an honor guard of a dozen men in precision movements as they accompanied Leduc's coffin from the Auclair Funeral Home in Fall River to a funeral attended by a thousand people in Tiverton, and then to the gravesite. One last time, they removed the flag-covered casket from a 1942 fire truck that had been loaned by the Providence Fire Department. After setting the coffin down, the honor guard folded the flag. Lloyd knelt and presented it to Leduc's elder son, Michael, 22, who is training to become a paramedic. Another member of the department presented Michael with a ceremonial firefighter's hat bearing the number 14 and the rank of lieutenant — a posthumous promotion. After the bagpipe players' rendition of "Amazing Grace" had faded to a whisper, after the last tone of the bell, firefighters from Tiverton and elsewhere, filed by the casket, leaving white gloves in their wake. Then it was over. And Lloyd and his men broke down, sharing their grief in embrace after embrace with each other and with firefighters from other communities. All week, preparations for the pageantry of Leduc's funeral had given members of the Fire Department a focus to distract them from the void left by death. More than 500 firefighters — some from Boston, New York and as far away as the state of Georgia — showed up at St. Theresa Church at Stafford and Eagleville roads. The turnout would have been larger had not many firefighters already begun traveling to a convention that begins on Sunday, according to George Farrell, chief of the Providence Fire Department. Farrell, walkie-talkie in hand, coordinated logistics as one school bus after another disgorged uniformed men, and a few women, in front of the church. One of them was Bill Carreira, a captain in the fire department of Kingsland, Ga., who had worked side by side with Leduc in the former Stone Bridge station in Tiverton. "He helped me get where I am today. I wouldn't miss this for the world," said Carreira as he waited outside the church for the funeral procession. Col. Brendan Doherty, the superintendent of the Rhode Island State Police, pulled up. Rhode Island Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch walked into the church. U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy followed. Members of the Town Council, the School Committee and other local officials were already seated. More than an hour earlier, two fire trucks had pulled into the parking lot, raising their ladders in an arch over the entrance to the church. When the cortege arrived, in a procession from the funeral home about three miles away, Leduc's casket passed beneath a huge American flag that had been suspended between the ladders. St. Theresa's pastor, the Rev. Peter Andrews, and one of Leduc's colleagues, Douglas Busse, eulogized him in remarks heard inside the church and outside in the parking lot. | | Tiverton firefighter Lt. Mark Reimels, center, joins others at the graveside service for Lt. Gerald R. Leduc. Leduc, 52, was on his day off last Sunday, jet-skiing on Stafford Pond, when the pager he wore signaled that there was a missing boater in the area. Leduc, a 24-year veteran of the department and a certified scuba diver, suffered an apparent heart attack after donning his scuba diving gear and getting into the water. "There's not a moment he didn't stop offering himself to this town," said Father Andrews. He said Leduc found his fulfillment in enriching the lives of others and setting an example for those he leaves behind. "He called on us to be better than we already are," said Father Andrews, who led prayers for all firefighters who risk their lives. Busse said that at Christmas time, Leduc arranged for Santa to ride on the back of a fire truck to bring cheer to local children. In his mind's eye, Busse said, he could see Leduc presiding over a clambake at his home, going back and forth to make sure his guests had all they needed. "He tried to take care of his boys," Busse said, referring to Michael Leduc and his younger brother, Jonathan, who both lived with their father. When he was afraid, Busse said, he took his strength from Leduc, who was so in tune with his job that he had a sixth sense about emergencies. More than once, in the middle of the night, Leduc, half dressed, would wake him, before an emergency call ever came in, Busse said. "I'm glad I knew him," Busse said. "I'm grateful for the memories," he said. As the funeral concluded, firefighters who had followed the ceremony on outdoor loudspeakers lined up behind a couple dozen flag bearers and stood at attention. In the crowd was Shadow, a Dalmatian belonging to the East Providence Fire Department. "He kind of brings a smile to people's faces on a sad occasion," said East Providence Battalion Chief Robert Jobin. Dalmatians, the traditional mascots of firefighters, used to protect the horses that drew fire wagons before the advent of the gasoline engine, Jobin explained. As the funeral cortege moved from the church to the cemetery, more than a mile away, stillness fell over the procession, despite a helicopter overhead and the gentle hum of the vehicles, including 10 motorcycles in the lead. People lined Stafford Road to watch. Some homes, with flagpoles in the yards, flew the American flag at half staff. One woman held up a sign that said, "Thank you, Gerald R. Leduc." |
