Calvin Brothers, long serving firefighter, 4-H volunteer and
Chief Building Inspector for Carroll County, has died at age 79
Kevin Dayhoff,
Monday, January 2, 2012
Labels: Fire
CC Depts 13 Gamber, People
Tributes
Updated: 3:25 p.m. Firefighters and friends from across Carroll County gathered at the Haight Funeral Home in Sykesville on Jan. 1 to celebrate the life of...
Firefighters from all across Carroll County gathered at the Haight Funeral Home in Sykesville on Sunday to celebrate the life of Calvin Warren Brothers, 79, of Finksburg, who died Wednesday, December 28, 2011, at Carroll Hospital Center in Westminster.
The service was conducted by the Carroll County Volunteer
Emergency Services Association Chaplain, Deacon Charles Barnhart, of whom many
emergency services personnel turn to in times of trouble or grief in Carroll
County.
Barnhart began the service by saying, “My friends, we have
gathered here to praise God and to witness our faith as we celebrate the life
of Calvin Brothers. We come together in grief, acknowledging our human loss.
May God grant us grace, that in pain we may find comfort, in sorrow hope, in
death resurrection.”
Brothers wore many different hats in the greater Carroll
County community and many folks knew him well by his steadfast community
leadership in the many responsibilities he took upon himself. The one common
thread is that he did everything well and no matter how difficult the task, he
was always a good friend to everyone.
He was born February 2, 1932 in Finksburg, and was the son
of the late Ernest Claude and Amelia I. Ward Brothers. He was the husband of
the late Carol Ann Baumes Brothers, who died in 2010.
He was a U.S. Army veteran, who served in Korea. He was a
member of the Westminster VFW, Westminster Moose, and the Westminster American
Legion.
He worked for many years for Luther L. Brothers Builders and
later as the Chief Building Inspector for Carroll County.
Others knew him well as a volunteer with Carroll County 4H
and FFA programs where he once served as the Chair of the Board for the Carroll
County 4H and FFA Fair.
Folks gathered Sunday evening to celebrate Brothers’ service
to our community as a volunteer firefighter. In May 1964, after several
devastating fires in the Gamber area of Carroll County, the Gamber and
Community Fire Company was organized. According to an old newspaper article, “Two
months after the company established itself, Calvin Brothers joined up. His
uncle, a member, recruited him. ‘Between 1965 and 1975, this was a very small
company,’ he said. ‘It didn't seem like we were going to go too far.’”
But through the hard work of Brothers and countless other
community leaders, the upstart fire company has gone far over the years.
“By 1965, the company purchased land and a building at the
intersection of Md. 32 and Md. 91, and ordered the first piece of fire
equipment…”
Here, Barnhart picked-up the story of Brothers’ work for our
community at his memorial service. Brothers “gave his volunteer spirit for 46
years.” He was the company president for a total of eleven-years in five
different decades.
Over the years, in addition to serving as a delegate to the
Carroll County Volunteer Firemen’s Association, and member of numerous
committees, he also served as Gamber fire chief, first vice-president for four
years, second vice-president for three years, and a member of the board of
directors for an additional four years.
He also served as president of the county firefighters’
association from 1992-1993 and was elected to the Carroll County Volunteer
Firemen’s Association Hall of Fame in 1990.
Barnhart spoke for many when he said, “There is so much to
share about Calvin’s dedication to” the Gamber volunteer fire company. “His
personality and devotion will never be forgotten. In every role, Calvin touched
your lives with charm and wit, with courage and hope, with kindness and love.
And I’m sure that it was a great reunion at the heavenly gate when Calvin
arrived this past Wednesday…
“Calvin became for all, the model of what it means to be an
honest hard working sensitive adult. And now, as long as you live in the memory
of his witness and faith, he will always live through you…
“We have been blessed with various gifts of service. We give
thanks for the life of Calvin W. Brothers and say thank you for his 46 years of
service to the Gamber and Community Volunteer Fire Company and the Gamber
community. We are grateful for his time and commitment for the betterment of
others.”
According
to attribute ob the fire company website by Gamber
fire company treasurer Clay Myers, Brothers was the husband of Carol Ann
Brothers who died in 2010. Surviving are daughter and son-in-law Jen and Chad
Dean of Odenton, sons and daughter-in-law Rick Bartels of Glen Burnie, and John
and Alisha Bartels of Gamber.
Also surviving are brothers and sisters-in-law Robert
Brothers of Gamber, Luther L. and Eva M. Brothers of Gamber, and Carl Melvin
and Bonnie Brothers of Traverse City, MI, sister Joan Gist of Gamber, and
grandchildren Kera Jefcoat, Kaitlyn Crabtree, Tyler Bartels and Olivia Hope
Bartels, and great grandson Layton Jefcoat.
He was predeceased by his sisters Grace Shipley, Jeanette
Robertson, Marietta Clark, and Amelia Sue Green, his brother-in-law Richard
Gist, and his grandson John Eric Bartels.
Funeral services were held Monday, January 2, 2012, at 10:00
am at Haight Funeral Home & Chapel with Deacon Charles Barnhart
officiating. Interment was at the Providence Cemetery, Gamber.
Donations in the honor of the memory of Brothers may be made
to the Gamber and Community Fire Department,
3939 Niner Rd., Finksburg, MD 21048.
Online condolences may be offered at www.haightfuneralhome.com
Photo of Calvin W. Brothers in uniform courtesy of the Gamber
and Community Fire Department
Kevin Dayhoff: A Tribute to Calvin Brothers, long serving firefighter, 4-H volunteer and Chief Building Inspector for Carroll County
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