Firefighters honor one of their own”A hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is braver five minutes longer.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
FARMINGTON – Under the blanket of a clear blue sky, dozens of area firefighters paid tribute to a longtime public servant, a man who helped battle area blazes for more than five decades. Ralph E. VanSickle, 84, of Farmington died Saturday at the Uniontown Hospital, leaving behind his wife Erma, daughters, Lisa and Beth, and a host of adopted sons at the Farmington Volunteer Fire Station, where he served diligently since 1953.
“He was a mainstay of this fire department,” Farmington Fire Chief Brian VanSickle said.
And while the 14-year veteran of the volunteer station said he wasn’t related to Ralph VanSickle, the longtime friend was like a grandfather to he and dozens of other firefighters through the years at the company.
Ralph, who worked as a truck driver for the Teamsters, was also instrumental in organizing the Farmington Fair, now a staple of life on the mountain, attracting thousands of visitors each year.
And when Ralph wasn’t working in the community, he was doing what all firefighters are trained for – fighting blazes and saving lives.
“He fought fires for a long time and I know he fought some bad ones,” Brian VanSickle said.
As firefighters loaded Ralph VanSickle’s casket aboard a Farmington fire engine Tuesday afternoon, more than 100 mourners grew still and quiet, the only sounds coming from the creaking truck, the flapping American flags mounted on its mirrors and gentle crying.
Brian VanSickle stood near the rear of the truck, his face solemn, as his company loaded the casket onto the fire truck.
“He was like a grandfather to all of us so we wanted to make sure we did this right,” the current fire chief said following the ceremony.
Aerial trucks from South Brownsville and Uniontown created an archway over Route 40 at the intersection with Route 381, a giant American flag draped from the ends of the ladders, as the procession passed under, headed from the Donald R. Crawford Funeral Home to LaFayette Memorial Park in Brier Hill, five firefighters on their knees, flanking the dark-wood casket.
Brian VanSickle, his full-dress uniform casting long shadows on the graying pavement of Route 40, stepped in front of the engine and saluted the fallen servant, while the Farmington fire whistle sounded for one minute.
The siren for the fallen comrade sounded at exactly 1:53 p.m., with area emergency personnel lining the roadway, saluting the trucks as they passed.
The procession led Tuesday traffic down the mountain into Uniontown at a crawl, with vehicles backed for a few miles behind the motorcade because the firefighters closed the passing lane headed east.
“He was a firefighter till the day he died,” Brian VanSickle said. “He would still come out to the station and do things, although he hadn’t fought a fire since the 1980s.”
The head of the Fayette County Firemen’s Association, Brain VanSickle said that the brotherhood between firefighters could not be stronger and added that the “respect and camaraderie” make firefighters special.
And while he said people having differing opinions of who heroes are and what they are supposed to be, Brian is confident that the community recognizes leaders like Ralph VanSickle who were willing to stay when others weren’t.
“I think people still see firefighters as heroes,” Brian VanSickle said. “While we were on the way down the mountain from Farmington, you could see the people in the oncoming traffic removing their hats, honoring him. I think the respect is still there and it might be stronger than it ever was.”