Nov. 23--The last time Walter Holm saw his brother Milford was 1945.
They rode the streetcar together in St. Paul and said their goodbyes. Milford headed to work as a St. Paul firefighter and Walter to serve in World War II.
Several months later, Walter received grim news. Milford had responded to a blaze in St. Paul and was killed. He was 35 years old and left behind a wife and two children.
Milford Holm was buried in St. Paul's Elmhurst Cemetery. On Memorial Day this year, Walter, now 91, went to pay his brother's grave a visit and said he was left disappointed by the headstone.
It included Milford's name, date of birth and date of death, but contained no indication that he was a firefighter or died in the line of duty.
When he mentioned it to his friend Mary Kaase, former executive director of the St. Paul Fire Foundation, she made Holm a promise: His brother would be properly honored.
On Wednesday, Walter Holm visited Elmhurst to see his brother Milford's new headstone. He was flanked by his wife and two of their children, along with Kaase and representatives of the St. Paul Fire Department.
The granite is now etched with "Milford E. Holm," "Died in the line of duty" and "City of St. Paul firefighter."
It was happenstance that they gathered the day before Thanksgiving, but Kaase found it an appropriate time to be expressing gratitude for Milford's service to St. Paul.
"God makes things fall in place," Kaase said. "... In years to come, when people walk by that marker, Milford's going to get the recognition that he died in the line of duty."
Walter Holm grew up in St. Paul, the youngest of eight children. During World War II, the 16-year-old Walter and his father headed to California to work in the shipyards, building Liberty Ships.
"Then I decided I wanted to sail these ships, so I joined the Merchant Marine," Walter Holm said. He was 17, and he said he ended up sailing around the world.
Three of Holm's brothers also fought in World War II.
"Think of that mama -- you have four sons in the war and they were able to come home alive and then your firefighter son died," Kaase said Wednesday.
The fire on June 4, 1945, was on Kellogg Boulevard where the Intercontinental Hotel now stands. The building's roof, third floor and second floor collapsed, killing Milford Holm and injuring eight other firefighters, according to a front-page article in the St. Paul Dispatch.
Walter Holm made it home for his brother's funeral. Though Milford was 16 years older than him, they were close. Holm, who now lives in Hudson, remembered his brother -- whom everyone called "Miff" -- as a happy man who was proud to be a firefighter.
Milford's children and wife are no longer alive, but Milford has a grandson carrying on the firefighting tradition -- serving in Plano, Texas.
The headstone project was a labor of love for Kaase. After hearing what it meant to Walter, she wrote letters to two firefighter-related organizations, explained the situation and asked for donations. She said never heard back from one, and the other told her they could not contribute.
Kaase thought she would pay the $850 out of her own pocket, but her son suggested she contact Stanley Hubbard.
Hubbard Broadcasting had donated money for a memorial plaque project, which marks the spots around St. Paul where firefighters died in the line of duty.
Hubbard covered the cost for Milford Holm's new headstone.
"We were happy to help," Hubbard said Wednesday. "It was a long overdue recognition."
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