Battalion Chief Bobbie Slayton laid to rest 1/12/2011

Roanoke City Battalion Chief Bobbie Slayton was laid to rest yesterday. Bobbie passed away on Saturday, January 8, 2011 after suffering a stroke on December 26, 2010. Chief Slayton served the Department from December 6, 1965 until July 1, 2010 (more than 44 years). More on Chief Slayton can be seen  HERE    HERE and HERE  

His viewing and funeral service was attended by many despite windy conditions and single digit temperatures. IAFF Local 1132 and the Roanoke Fire / EMS Department carried the Chief to his final resting place with Fire Department Honors.

City Stations were staffed with off duty members along with members from surrounding Departments… Salem Fire / EMS Department and Roanoke County Fire / Rescue. I’m waiting on the completed roster of  the Brothers and Sisters working that detail and will have it posted here as soon as it becomes available. I personally want to express my THANKS and APPRECIATION to those members for their professionalism, the brotherhood, honor and respect shown for our fallen.

Several comments were made as to how “impressive” the funeral seemed to those not familiar with Fire Department funerals. Bobbie’s “send off” seemed only  fitting for the type of man and Chief he was. Here is the local news coverage…

 

Mike Overacker (Retired) also has some great photos over on his site Roanokefirefighters.com See those pics  HERE. (some pics in this post are also courtesy of Mike..other by Drew Able Station #3-A)

It was also fitting that the bell we use to signal a fallen’s “final Alarm” was a project of Chief Slayton. Bobbie played a huge roll in having the bell removed from the tower of Historic #1 as well as its refurbishment. The bell was then mounted on a trailer and has been used for member funerals since. Here is a photo of the Chief and his B-shift crew of Ladder #1 with the finished product.

L-R Bobbie Slayton, Riley Peters, Jimmy Jennings, Doug Rorer, Willie Wines Sr. and Brent Berry

 Here is the bell and Honor Guard at Chief Slayton’s funeral

Thanks also to all the uniformed personnel in attendance. As I mentioned, the weather conditions were near unbearable. Members lining the cemetery entrance were standing unshielded in the elements for almost 45 minutes. Another tribute to the life and memory of Chief Slayton.

Below is the list of Roanoke County and Salem members who filled our stations..

Roanoke County Fire / Rescue..

Captain Brian Witt,  FF/ Medic John Ferron, FF/EMT Barry Brown, Captain Troy Grey, FF/Medic Brandon Carroll, FF/EMT John Gillespie, Battalion Chief Bill Duff, FF/EMT John Morton, FF/EMT Adam Amburgey, Captain Barry Hurley, FF/EMT Scott Morgan, FF/EMT Tim Webster.

Salem Fire / EMS

Captain E. Hite, EMS Supervisor Lt. J. Poindexter, FF/Medic T. Rickman, FF/EMT L. Keffer, FF/EMT J. McAlexander, FF/EMT B. Haynes, FF/EMT J. Meredith, FF/EMT A. Lester, FF/EMT M. Cogen, FF/EMT S. Albert.

There were also several City Members who came in (uncompensated) and manned a rig / station so that B-shift members could attend the services. I do not have the complete list yet but will add their names as soon as it becomes available.

The Honor Gaurd …. WOW! Another outstanding  job by every member on the team. At the viewing, several retirees commented on how they thought the members posted by the casket were statues. At the funeral, Lt. Robet “Bugg” Reid and Lt. Darrel Songer once again had the task and honor of posting by the casket during the ceremony. That was a little over 1 hour at “Ceremonal Parade Rest” …. unbelievable job!

Well done folks. The members serving as Honor Guard were as follows….

Roanoke City

Battalion Chief Roger Manual, Lt. Dan Goodwin, FF/MEdic Richard Lipes, Captain Chris Trussler,  1st Lt. D. Songer, Lt. Robert Reid, Lt. T. Gherman, Travis Meador, Jeff East, J.D. Reynolds, Todd Riley, Josh Hull, Carlie Walshe, J. Anuszkiewicz, Rachel Winters, M. Jenkins and Jacob Palmer.

Salem Fire / EMS

Lt. Mike Elston, FF/Medic Chris Smith and FF/EMT D. Parr

Roanoke County Fire / Rescue

Toby Martin, Captain Jeff Lawson and Dean Perulous

 Please forgive and let me know if I have left anyone out. AGAIN, thanks to everyone involved for a job WELL DONE! 

REST IN PIECE CHIEF

Captain Wines