BY ALISON SOLTAU
Special to The Examiner
Melinda "Mindy" Ohler, the first woman with the San Francisco Fire Department to die in the line of duty, was remembered Thursday as a brave firefighter and true friend.
Broken-hearted colleagues from Engine 42 and Station house 18 led an emotional procession of The City's fire, police and sheriff departments to a funeral service attended by more than 2,000 people at St. Mary's Cathedral.
Ohler, 46, died early Monday morning after a five-day struggle for survival after she sustained head injuries in a fall from a fire engine near the firehouse.
The 13-year veteran also worked as a pharmaceutical salesperson and an airline ticket agent while serving with San Bruno Engine 42.
"Mindy was a good woman, a strong woman, a capable woman, a very independent woman. A woman who was proud of herself and her job, so we mourn today ... the loss of a good woman," Greene said.
Relatives and friends from her home state of Indiana were there. Her yellow Labradors, Brook and Maddie, stood vigil at the Cathedral steps, facing a procession of solemn bagpipers and a cavalcade of fire trucks whose ladders held aloft a giant American flag. Inside, a traditional nine-bell salute was rung in her memory.
"The community should make note of this day, for today marks the passage of a hero of the very first order," said Fire Chief Mario Trevino.
From the Examiner | |
Saturday, February 4, 2012