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Fallen Firefighter Eulogized By His Teenage Son
Fallen Firefighter Eulogized By His Teenage Son - Thursday, January 10, 2008 at 7:30PM EST
Reported by: Eric Deabill
Thursday, Jan 10, 2008 @07:30pm EST
SCRANTON, LACKAWANNA COUNTY - It was an emotional morning in West Scranton Thursday, as a fallen firefighter was laid to rest in his home community. Captain James Robeson died Sunday morning while in the line of duty, battling a blaze on Ash Street.
At his funeral mass, Robeson was eulogized by his 17-year-old son Ryan. Ryan is a junior at Scranton Prep. He detailed the last moments he spent with his father. It was a eulogy that brought many people to tears.
"We have to celebrate the fact that we had 50 long years here with him and remember the trail of memories he has left in each of our hearts," Ryan Robeson said.
In front of more than 700 people who packed Saint Patrick's Church, Robeson recanted the last minutes he spent with his dad, watching football, then going off to bed Saturday night saying three words: I love you. It was the last time Ryan would see his father.
"That is the greatest gift I could have gotten out of this tragedy because I can live the rest of my life knowing that when he died, my father knew I loved him," Ryan Robeson said.
That love extended well beyond the Robeson family, to a brotherhood of firefighters who say he was a humle public servant, leader, mentor and friend.
"Jim was the type of man, whether dealing with brother firefighters, his family or the public, you know you could depend on him. Jim was the guy you called when you needed something done," fellow firefighter David Schreiber recalled during a separate eulogy.
As Ryan Robeson left the church, he helped carry his father's casket to the firetruck he spent so much time on. He knows his father, at only age 50, died a hero.
"My father would not have wanted it any other way. He never wanted to die of an illness or accident. He wanted to die doing the job he loved and the job he was born to do," Ryan Robeson said.
"Captain James Robeson was one of the finest men to ever wear the uniform of a Scranton firefighter," Schreiber recalled. | | |
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