VERGENNES, Vt. --
After 62 years at the Vergennes Fire Department -- 55 of which he was chief -- Ralph Jackman has passed away.
Tuesday his friends and family came together to remember him.
They said he saved many lives, both as a soldier in World War II and as a firefighter.
"I owe the man my life," said retired firefighter Bob Jenkins, who responded to a barn fire along with Jackman 48 years ago.
"He heard a crack in this wall and he surmised what was going to happen, and he slammed the door in my face and whole end of the barn came down," said Jenkins. "So, if it hadn't been for Ralph I'd have probably walked right out and underneath it, and that've been the end."
Jackman has five daughters. They say the community knows their father for many things beside his service in the fire department, things like his exemplary service in the Rotary club, meals on wheels and several other organizations.
But they also want their father to be remembered for the things most people didn't hear about, like the time he helped a needy man who only had a shabby coat to keep warm.
"And one day he came to church with a brand new coat on," Jackman's daughter Lynn Donnelly. "And somebody said 'well you look pretty spiffed up' and he said 'thanks to Ralph Jackman.'"
Another daughter of Jackman, Susan Burdick, said he not only cared about other people, but did whatever he could to help them.
She said her father had a very definite set of priorities.
"I've got to say faith probably came first," said Burdick. "Family always came first on Earth, and then -- his extended family was definitely this community."
Burdick also said the men and women her dad served with at the fire department were like sons and daughters.
The man who filled Jackman's position when he retired as chief in November, says he'd turned the town's fire department into one of the best in the state.
"The governor has said that, many other people have said that," state current Vergennes fire Chief James Breur. "It's a department to look up to and he created that, and I would say that's the best legacy, that's going to be the hardest one for me to keep up."
Breur said Jackman made the Vergennes Fire Department so good because of the qualities and drive he instilled in his men.
"He demanded perfection and he got it," said Breur.
Jackman also started a cadet program and brought in modern equipment, sometimes before any other Vermont fire departments.
It hasn't been verified but the Vergennes firefighters think Jackman the longest-serving fire chiefs in the country.
His funeral is 10 a.m. Wednesday, at St. Peters Catholic Church in Vergennes.
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