It is with great sympathy and a heavy heart that I pass on the death of Retired Assistant Chief Gary "Gaz" Gasawski of the Belleville Fire Department, Local 53. Gaz was one of the first Local 53 guys to be inducted into the AFFI HG. He started the ball rolling for all of us to follow. Alot of you may remember him, especially the guys in the mid 1990's era. Quiet yet very jovial, he retired 2 years ago as an AC. About as soon as he retired, he found out he had cancer. The Chemo treatments took a toll on his body and this past friday, July 13th, his heart stopped...and he was gone. He was 60 years old and leaves behind a wife,3 grown children and and a grandbaby. Local 53 Honor Guard did his funeral this morning and it was very humbling but went off well. We rolled out the carpet for Gaz to go home.
I apologize for not getting this information out to the state, him being HG and all. Things happened REAL fast and left little time for us to get our stuff together. Local 53 (with 15 AFFI HG members) knocked out the funeral and did it fully representing the work we all do together. Dan Whiteside of Alton came and Piped for us....way appreciated!!!!!
Thanks to all. I wanted to get the info out to you guys. Gary will be greatly missed and I am happy, with the training we get from the AFFI HG, that we could provide such a poignet and meaningful ceremony for the family.
Good job by all of you for being there for the Gasawski Family. I am sure you guys did a great job and represented the guard with highest regard. May he rest in peace. Send my regards to the Local 53 members as well.
