Photos by Julie Gerke
Before he died in 2019, South Jacksonville Fire Department Lt. Bill Cummings knew how he wanted to be remembered:
So, to honor his wishes, his family used memorial gifts to pay for a monument that would honor retired village firefighters who had logged 20 or more years with the department since 2004.
On May 26, Cummings’ dream became reality, as his grandsons Braxton and Blake Batty helped unveil the dark gray granite stone that now has a permanent home near the main driveway of the department, 1810 Sequoia Drive.
The ceremony – with a flag raising, national anthem, speeches and lots of family photographs – preceded the department’s annual community cookout.
Eleven names are engraved on the monument, with room for more names on the back.
The village department, formed in 1917, moved to its current location in 2004.
