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Tieche tribute: ‘He had heart bigger than he was’
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Fellow firefighters from the Mahoning Valley salute the coffin of Cardinal Joint Fire District Chief Robert Tieche as it is carried out of Canfield Methodist Church. Tieche was buried Thursday at Canfield Village Cemetery, five days after he died.
Robert Tieche, Laid to Rest
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Last Friday, fire Chief Robert Tieche wore his helmet and flame-retardant coat responding to a fire; Thursday they were set beside his flag-covered casket. Tieche, 63 and chief since 1981, died suddenly Saturday morning and was buried Thursday at the Canfield Village Cemetery.
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Canfield Fire Chief Robert Tieche
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Austintown Fire Chief Andy Frost Jr.
By Robert Guttersohn
CANFIELD
Last Friday, Cardinal Joint Fire District Chief Robert Tieche wore his helmet and flame-retardant coat responding to a fire; Thursday they were set beside his flag-covered coffin.
Tieche, 63 and chief since 1981, died suddenly Saturday morning and was buried Thursday at the Canfield Village Cemetery.
Earlier at the memorial, friends, family and first-responders from the three-county region filled Canfield United Methodist Church.
He was remembered for his rough humor, his love for family and his love for his job.
“He had a heart bigger than he was,” Austintown Fire Chief Andy Frost Jr. said.
Frost and Tieche were more than colleagues; they were friends.
They met as youths while working at Tieche’s father’s bakery, taking part in doughnut fights. But for most of the last three decades, they became influential in the region and formed — along with Struthers Fire Chief Harold Milligan — the Mahoning Valley Fire Chiefs Association.
“We used to call each other buckaroo,” Milligan said. “Chief buckaroo’s gone home. I look forward to being with you in the future.”
Tieche was also remembered for his innovation in the profession.
“He moved to put automatic defibrillators on the firetrucks before the state of Ohio would even allow us,” Deputy Chief Don Hutchinson said.
He added that Tieche pushed for using paramedics and had the first truck with automatically injected foam, saving about 1,000 gallons of water in putting out an average fire, Hutchinson said.
“He had the fire district’s best interest, and that was his No. 1 priority,” Hutchinson said. “I am indebted to him forever and for the opportunity to work with him.”
Firefighters and the community remembered Tieche for his bravery.
The Rev. Donald Christensen of Canfield United Methodist Church said he remembered watching Tieche during a fire years ago. Amid the sirens and smoke, he watched the chief calmly giving orders to control the blaze.
“I’ve always believed that anyone who’d have the courage to go into the fire, to walk into the fire to save someone is doing something essentially Christ-like,” the Rev. Mr. Christensen said.
Mr. Christensen also read a letter written by the chief’s wife of 35 years, Debra. In the letter, she thanked Tieche for their children, Rob and Katie.
“I will miss you every day,” she wrote. “I’m looking forward to when we meet again.”
After the memorial service, the men he once commanded carried the coffin outside the church while the rest of the area’s emergency responders stood rigid, saluting the chief. As bagpipes blared “Amazing Grace,” they loaded the coffin onto the back of a fire- truck that passed the late-chief’s house and on to the cemetery.
Main Street was jammed with the region’s firetrucks. Police officers along the way directing traffic stood and saluted as his coffin passed. Residents emerged from their homes — some out of respect, others out of curiosity.
Under one of the trees that lined the narrow road of the cemetery, firefighters lifted the American flag from the chief’s coffin, folded it into a triangle and presented it to his wife, Debra. A fire bell clanged. Taps was played. And one last prayer was prayed.