Memorial Foundation Report
The Annual Memorial Services on October 7th and 8th were the largest attended since the memorial was dedicated on May 18, 2002. We honored eight line-of-duty-deaths and 138 non-line-of-duty-deaths. 89 of those passed in 2022 and 49 previously missed from 2021 and 2022. Currently, for 2023, we are on track for 85 to 90 non-line-of-duty-deaths, plus we are now aware of some additional names previously missed from 2022. The Candlelight Service was on the 19th and the Sunday Morning Service was on the 21st.
The Foundation continues to review how we can improve the delivery of honors to line of duty and service recognition to non-line of duty families. This year the printed Saturday evening candlelight program provided pictures of each name and a brief biography of their service. We also added luminary bags around the service walls, candles in the windows of the museum, and red filters on the ground lighting, which changed the overall look and feel of things. Perhaps one of the most impactful changes was when all the candles in their red cup holders were illuminated with the other lighting changes.
That picture was shared on social media many times with very positive reviews.
The Sunday Morning Service was live-streamed on Facebook and can be seen on our memorial Facebook page, Fire Fighter Memorial Foundation of Missouri. The page currently has 514 followers and is growing each week. If you are on Facebook, please check us out and like the page.
SAVE THE DATES
The 2024 Memorial Services will be on Saturday, October 5th, for the Candlelight Service and the Sunday Morning Service is on October 6th. Going forward, our annual services will occur on the first Sunday in October with the Candlelight Service occurring the evening before. If you have any questions about the October services, please contact me at keith.smith1974@yahoo.com or 314-709-0760.
There will be a formal announcement regarding the cut-off date for names to be honored and engraved in the next issue. We will include all 2023 names and any we missed from 2021 and 2022 but no decision at this time regarding including 2024. The engraving cut-off this year was June 30th, and likely to be the same in 2024.
We are pleased to report that our testing of a brick engraving recovery technology for fading lettering was successful and those bricks that received this make-over were revitalization to nearly new condition. We completed nearly half of those identified as needing attention this year and will plan on doing the remainder next year. We do not know how long the recovery process will last, but hopefully for many years into the future. At least for now, this saves a large expense of brick replacement. We will be monitoring how well this recovery process works in the short and long term.
At the time of this writing, supply chain issues have prevented the exchange of the temporary electric panel in the museum building which is the last remaining element of the utility and restrooms project. All the utilities are fully functional, and the restrooms were used during the October services. Special thanks again to WSKF Architects in North Kansas City and their design team for their work. Two thumbs up to Professional Contractors and Engineers out of Columbia for managing all the construction. We are blessed to have these two great partners.
In my last article, we welcomed and provided a profile of two new Foundation Board members, Janet Cain and Tracy Gray. With this article, I must sadly announce that Doc Kritzer has retired from the Board and is leaving a large set of shoes to fill with his many, many responsibilities. Key among them was managing all of our engravings. Doc has served on the Board of Directors for more than 10 years and took over engraving shortly after arriving. Well, dumped into his lap when Ron Paubel retired and moved out of State. Doc made several improvements resulting in greater accuracy, a grouping of names where possible (not always possible), the online brick search, a master mapping of all bricks/engraving, and the application process. Thank you, Doc, for your focus on detail and leaving things better than when you first arrived.
Finally, to circle back on brick and engraving applications. We have all new forms! Please delete any electronic copies you have before October 2023. There is a new mailing and email address. We also have a revised processing procedure for the application(s) and payment. You can go to the website at ffam.org/memorial/ for all forms and updated information or contact me. Once on the website look for the memorial forms (Distinguished Service Wall) and donation forms (Brick Sponsor). You will also find the link for the memorial flags.
Thank you for your time and continued support of your memorial and future museum.
2023 Memorial Services Inductees
Line Of Duty
Rickey Lee Hobbs
James Dale Jenkins
Gregory James Thompson
Benjamin James Polson
Kevin Lawrence Cremer
Donald Mark Kisner
Dustin Wayne Brandhorst
Robert Lee Moore
Non-Line Of Duty
Peter Fredric Ahl
Howard “Mitch” Alspaw
Ronald Wayne Anselmo
David Michael Argent
Bryan K. Arnold
Jeff Charles Avery
Robert G. Backhus
Anthony “Tony” Bailey
Russell Ballard
John Albert Battistoni
Donald Francis Becker
John Harold Becker
Ronald Ray Beckett
Willard Eugene Blakeley
Robert “Bob” Bohmie
Joseph A. Bommarito
Larry David Boyle
Bobby Glenn Brunner
Butch Callahan
Michael Cashion
Donald A. Chambers
Keith Michael Colwell
Michael D. Cooper
Donald Lee Cox
Frank J. Desmond
Matthew James Dickison
Dennis Leo Dinneen
Denis Drozkowski
Larry King Donavant
Harold E. Eddins
James “Jim” Edwards
Michael William Fischer Sr.
William “Bill” Fox
Ricky Gene Gardner
William H. Giesike Iii
Lewis L. Griffin
Jeremy L. Grither
Lloyd Harfst
Michael Henry Hejnal
Jeremy Adam Helling
Nathan Michael Hood
Melvin O. Huff
Kenneth Dale Ingebritson
Donald Kent Jordan
Francis “Frank” Kardasz
Delmar J. Klataske
Leeroy Krenning
John Carl Kriska
Brian Edward Lamkemeyer
Verlin Ray Latham
Kent Leon Leeper
Edward G. Litteken
Claude R. Livingston Iii
Earl Turner Logan
Jesse Barrett Long
Bruce Alan Longan
Jon Jay Henry Luetkemeyer
Robert L. Marsh
Brenndan Michael-Dennis Mastin
David Hillard Mcclarty
Robert Leon Miller
Michael R. Moore
Richard R. “Dick” Moore
Gordon Leon Morgan
Stanley Murphy
Harold Russell Neill, Jr.
Eric A. Newman
Mark Lewis Petersen
Charles Dwaine Platter
Joseph B. Pottebaum
Michael Dana Roberds
James Franklin Roberts Jr.
Murice Wayne Rothermich
Anthony “Tony” Santi
Kenneth F. Schmitt
Virgil Anthony Schmitt
Robert David Shockley
Kenneth R. Steffen
Jerry L. Tebeau
Eric Matthew Thomason
Colt Randall Tripp
Lorenzo Gene Tutt, Sr.
Lawrence A. Vorholt
Michael Andrew Walker
Jesse Isreal Watts
Dennis George Weider
Christopher A. West
Adam C. Williams
Scott Wood
Charlies E. Allison
Richard Wade Blythe
Leroy “Butch” Braswell
Carl Robert Buckner
Jeremy Wesley Clark
Johnny Dale Coday
Jeffrey Curnell
Larry K. Ervie
Logan Austin Grote
Valmon Jennings Holloway
Jimmie L. Matthew
William James Mccabe
Kelly Mccrea Morse
Timothy Rauls
David Wayne Reynolds
Jack Franklin Reynolds
Steven Eugene Russell
Kenneth Claude Vaught
David L. Viehland
Raymond Wynn
Ella Jane Allen
Pace D. Baker, Jr.
Christopher Norris Bell
Kenneth Charles Berkel
James J.D. Butner
Thomas Frakes Downing
William Otto Eckelkamp
Billy Ray Ellison
Charles Frankenberg
Billy Wakefield Freeman
Edward Kirk Hagelstein, Sr.
Lester Eldon Hilton
Jack W. Hirst
Harold E. Hurtgen
Harold Dee Ikerd
Herbert E. Jacobs
Lee Edward Keith
Julius O. Kinder
Robert Melvin Kurtz Jr.
Raymond Louis Love
Jeffrey Lee Nelson
Richard Henry Oehl
Gary Leonard Peterein
Robert Arthur Reeves
Arthur Drew Streigle
Leland Allen Wagner
Claude F. White, Sr.
Charles Ellis Wickes, Sr.
Donald R. Zielinski
FFAM
