How to contribute
Donate online at www.mvmemorial.org or send checks made payable to the Miami Valley Firefighter/EMS Memorial Association, 444 W. Third St., Suite 20/231, Dayton, OH 45402.
Jon Barlow Hudson is all too familiar with the traditional firefighters’ memorial: a bronze sculpture of a firefighter carrying a child out of a burning building, or some variation on that theme.
With his sculpture “Fire Wall” — designed to honor Miami Valley’s fallen firefighters — Hudson is aiming for something less literal, something that celebrates the spirit of the men and women he considers modern-day heroes. “They don’t have a memorial in this region, and they deserve one,” Hudson said.
Retired Dayton firefighter Rod Longpre thought so do. So did his friend Darrell Perkins of the Box 21 Rescue Squad, and they established the nonprofit Miami Valley Firefighter/EMS Memorial Association with the goal of creating a public sculpture honoring their fallen friends.
Dayton Firefighters Local 136 raised some $20,000 through bake sales, fish fries, and benefits featuring local rock bands. The Memorial Association received a $25,000 grant from the Robert E. Miller trust and two grants from the Montgomery County Arts and Cultural District totaling nearly $7,000.
Spokesman Steve King said private donations have boosted the total to more than $65,000 but an additional $10,000 to $15,000 needs to be raised before construction can begin on the sculpture that will be installed at Stubbs Park in Centerville, near the natural amphitheater.
“It has been a long strange trip,” Longpre said, “and I can’t believe we’ve come this far.” The group’s Web site, mvmemorial.org, recently declared it “is very close to realizing its original goal: to create a memorial worthy of the fallen and a living monument to those who risk their lives for the Miami Valley every day.”
Two of the surviving family members served among the seven judges for the statewide Juried Arts Competition, which selected Hudson’s design. John O’Toole is the father of Washington Twp. firefighter Robert O’Toole, who died in 1998 after being struck by a car on ice-slick Interstate 675. Sandy Talley is the sister of Clayton EMT Cindy Verberg, who was killed in 2001 when a tree crushed the ambulance cab in which she was riding.
Hudson said he was honored to be selected by the family members, and touched by the realization that this project was initiated by the firefighters themselves. He also enjoys working close to home after several major commissions in China, including an original work in the Olympic Park for the 2008 Beijing Olympics and his still-in-progress sculpture for the China/U.S. Peace and Friendship Park in Beijing.
“It’s really going to be spectacular,” Longpre said of Hudson’s design. “One of the things I like about his design is that it says different things to different people.”
The 58 fallen firefighters and paramedics hail from the nine counties of the Miami Valley. The earliest recorded death was that of John Dawson of Springfield on Feb. 24, 1847; the most recent is Rose Woodbridge of Hanover Twp,, who died July 28, 2006. Edward Doudna died March 25, 1913, while rescuing victims of the Great Dayton Flood.
The names of all the dead will be inscribed on one panel of the 15-foot triangular form, which will incorporate abstract and realistic components. “Fire Wall” will be constructed from three massive steel triangles symbolizing fuel, heat and oxygen. The silhouette of a firefighter will be laser-cut into a bright aluminum tread plate that is found on most fire trucks. A cutout of the firefighter will be installed several feet behind the silhouette.
“Other people will see it differently, and I like that,” Hudson said, “but for me it symbolizes the spirit of the firefighter in the other dimension.”
Only one thing can’t be debated: The sculpture will represent the spirit of all Miami Valley firefighters who have never forgotten their fallen comrades.
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