John W. Brown, a lifelong resident of the
area, entered into rest on Sunday, June 1, 2008, at St. Luke's
Cornwall Hospital, Newburgh Campus. He was 49.
The son of the late Frank and Norma Barclay Brown, he was born
December 12, 1958, in Newburgh, NY . John was a New York State
Fire Instructor; Orange County Fire Instructor; served with the
Orange County HazMat Team; was a life member and past President
of the Cronomer Valley Fire Department; instructor in First Aid
and CPR for the Red Cross; was active in Lifesafe Services;
instructor for the American Heart Association; American Safety
and Health Institute Instructor; Program Facilitator and
Trainer, was a building inspector for Cornwall and the Village
of Kiryas Joel . He was the originator of the Orange County
Family Safety Day; Troop Leader for Girl Scouts Heart of the
Hudson Council and recipient of the Girl Scout Thanks Badge;
former Boy Scout and Eagle Scout, and Honorary Member of many
area fire companies.
Survivors include his wife, Dot Stitt Brown; daughter, Sharon
Warren and her husband, Ron of Newburgh; brother, Frank G.
Brown, Jr.; two nieces, and great nieces and nephews. He was
predeceased by his sisters, Maryellen Astacio and Norma Hoffman
.
Funeral Services were held at the Cronomer Valley Fire
Department. Over a hundred firefighters from New York State and
Orange county paid their last respects.
One of John's notable question that was asked after every class
was " Any Questions Comments or War Stories?"
His wife Dot Brown is the president of the Cronomer Valley Fire
Department Ladies Auxiliary, and his father Frank Brown was also
a New York State and County fire instructor. He will be missed
by many in the fire service,as well as the EMS.
-Provided by John C. Miller
Shawn P. Martin
The
Department of Defense announced the death of two Marines who
were supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom: Sgt. Shawn P. Martin,
30, of Delmar, N.Y. and Staff Sgt. Stephen J. Wilson, 28, of
Duluth, Ga.
Both Marines died June 20 while conducting combat operations in
Al Anbar province, Iraq.آ Both Marines were assigned to Combat
Logistics Battalion 13, 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit, I Marine
Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.
Shawn P. Martin died exactly where he wanted to be. The
30-year-old Marine sergeant had only been in Iraq for five weeks
when he was killed Wednesday by a roadside bomb in Saqlawiyah,
just west of Baghdad. He told his family in his last phone call
home that he was doing something he believed in. And he let them
know that in his last e-mail, sent on May 22:
"I thank God every morning that I wake up and put on this
uniform with the knowledge of knowing that for all that I
sacrifice today allows you all to have a safer and brighter
tomorrow," he wrote.
Before Martin was in a war zone -- serving as an ordnance
specialist for the Combat Logistic Battalion 13, 13th Marine
Expeditionary Unit -- he was a Delmar firefighter.
Martin showed up at the Elsmere Fire Company soon after he could
walk, Capt. Rick Zigrosser remembered recently. He was just a
little boy climbing all over the trucks when his father,
longtime Elsmere firefighter Paul Martin, brought him to the
station.
In 1995, the year he graduated from Bethlehem High School,
Martin joined the volunteer fire company.
Zigrosser said Martin approached firefighting with the same
energetic enthusiasm he did in life. He pushed people out of the
way so he could be first inside the burning building.
"He wanted to be the guy going in and taking care of everybody,"
Zigrosser said. "He would do whatever he needed to do to get the
job done."
He stayed with the Elsmere Fire Company for five years and
worked local jobs until he joined the Marine Corps in 2000 and
traveled the world. He went to Italy, Hungary, Cuba, and Spain.
Somewhere in there, in November 2002, he found the time to marry
his longtime sweetheart, Marianne.
By the time he got the call to go to Iraq, the two had settled
in California.
Martin was very family-oriented and came home whenever he got
the chance, said Terry Hannigan, an attorney acting as spokesman
for the Martin family.
He said Martin's death had hit the firehouse particularly hard.
He said the group still puts a wreath on the grave of Sgt.
William C. Adams, who died in World War II. Adams was a former
member of the Elsmere Fire Company, which still displays a
letter he sent on Dec. 25, 1944 -- two days before he died.
Hannigan said sadness from Martin's death would spread
throughout Bethlehem, where so many people know each other.
"When it hits someplace like here, it's tougher," Hannigan said.
"It affects so many people in a small area."
At least two other service members from Bethlehem have died in
Iraq. Army Sgt. Thomas D. Robbins died in Iraq in 2004. Army
Capt. Timothy Moshier was killed in April 2006 when the Apache
helicopter he was piloting crashed near Baghdad during a combat
air patrol.
Cherry Avenue Extension, not far from the fire company, is named
after Moshier. Flags and a wreath decorated that sign on
Thursday.
The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have now killed at least 14
service members from the region. Residents of Watervliet,
Gloversville, Albany, South Glens Falls, North Creek and
Elizaville have died.
His family has his final words as comfort. That last e-mail also
mentioned how eager he was for his next trip. "I am looking
forward to coming home soon and seeing all of you again," Martin
wrote.
Martin is survived by his wife and his parents, Paul and Dawn
Martin, a sister, Nicolle, and niece, Kira, all of Delmar.
Provided
