Saturday Good Morning Story: FORGING A LASTING UNSEEN MARKER FOR A FRIEND

Saturday, February 9, 2013

Saturday Good Morning Story: FORGING A LASTING UNSEEN MARKER FOR A FRIEND

The photo below is a work of art in iron that no one will ever see. It’s a forged metal cover for an urn that was buried. The urn holds the cremated remains of Joe Whiton, one of the founding members of the Southwest Artists Blacksmith Association and a volunteer fire fighter who donated his body to science.

Joe Whiton retired from a career with the Air Force and became a blacksmith and an independent businessman. He was generous, intelligent, and a problem solver. He created devices, tools and jigs to help blacksmiths more easily make their handmade items. He could whip out puzzles made of nails in seconds flat. He was also a volunteer fire fighter.

His fire fighting training was lifesaving when fire broke out at his son Ken’s home in 2005. An electric short in the gas-fired hot tub caused a huge blaze in the middle of the night. Ken came to get Joe in his bedroom. Joe dropped to the floor and started crawling, staying as low as possible.

Ken had panicked. He was standing up, trying to pull his dad out of bed. The hair on Ken’s head was singed by the fire, but everyone got out of the burning house okay.

Joe Whiton died on December 9, 2009, just 11 days before his 88th birthday. His body was donated to IIAM, the International Institute for the Advancement of Medicine. As soon as the death was pronounced, Joe’s body was flown to Phoenix for tissue harvesting. What remained of his body was cremated and sent back to the family. This was all done at no cost to the family.

Shortly after Joe died, Ken and his wife Betty had a celebration of life reception at their house. After his cremated remains were returned, they had a graveside service where attendees shared memories and stories.

It was at this graveside service that the pictured handmade metal cover was last seen. The cover features Joe Whiton’s smith symbol and the stamped symbols of all the blacksmith artists who knew and admired Joe Whiton.

Here are the names of each artist, counter-clockwise from the lower left corner, with the lines leading to each of their smith symbols: Chad Gunter, Brad Gunter, Frank Turley, Leaf Gonnsen, Bob Curtis, Alex Ivey, Christopher Thompson, Kevin Dunlap, Bob Keers, Richard Rumpf, (top center) Joe Whiton’s symbol, Gary Bryant, Jack Beadersted, Gary Williams, Helmut Hillenkamp, Bruce Hansche, Mike Rufe, Robert Ulibarri, Ward Brinegar, Larry Kern, and Robb Gunter.

Even when a work of art is unseen, its quality shines through. And aren’t we as individuals a bit like that as well?

When we become unseen, our qualities still shine through via the impact we make on others. What kind of stamp are you putting on the people you know and love?

Original Source: FORGING A LASTING UNSEEN MARKER FOR A FRIEND

July 13, 2012, 3:13 pm http://thefamilyplot.wordpress.com/category/memorable-life-celebrations/

CFN - California Fire News 2012

No comments:

How fires get their names

Every year in California thousands of wildfires start throughout the state. In most cases, the dispatch center sending the initial resources to a wildland fire will designate a name for the fire, but the first on scene engine or fire official can also name the incident. Fires are usually named for the area in which they start – a geographical location, local landmark, street, lake, mountain, peak, etc. Quickly naming the fire provides responding fire resources with an additional locater, and allows fire officials to track and prioritize incidents by name. For example during the Southern California Fire Siege of 2003, the largest wildland fire in California history, the Cedar Fire in San Diego County, was named after the Cedar Creek Falls area where it started. The destructive Old Fire, which burned during the same time period in San Bernardino County, was named after the road along which it started - Old Waterman Canyon Road.

CAL FIRE is the largest fire department in California and the second largest fire department in the United States. CDF - CAL FIRE Firefighters answer the call more than 300,000 times a year. CAL FIRE Firefighters make up the fire department for 30 of our 58 counties in California and more than 100 local communities. We serve as the incident command during many of California’s most serious disasters. CAL FIRE Firefighters respond to many various types and forms of calls ranging from structural fires, to auto accidents, to earthquakes, to floods, to the spilling of hazardous materials, to every conceivable disaster; CAL FIRE answer's the calls. CAL FIRE is the largest fire department in California and the second largest fire department in the United States . CAL FIRE firefighters protect 33 million acres of State Responsibility Area (SRA). We have over 4,000 members within CAL FIRE and CAL FIRE is associated with the California Professional Firefighters (CPF) and the International Association of Firefighters (IAFF).

CFN - CALIFORNIA FIRE NEWS - CAL FIRE NEWS

Saturday, February 9, 2013