By David O’connor
Intelligencer Journal/New Era
LANCASTER, Pa. — It’s good to know, Abby Rankin said this week, that there’s a place where firefighters who have died in the line of duty can be memorialized and honored.
Rothsville firefighter Mark Steffy, meanwhile, has always wanted to visit the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial in Emmitsburg, Md.
“But I never in my life dreamed I’d be there for this reason,” he said. “It’s a huge honor, a tremendous honor.”
Steffy, who lost his father, longtime Rothsville fire police officer Edward Steffy, 71, last November, and Rankin, who lost her husband, Lt. Keith Rankin, 38, of Lancaster Township Fire Department, a year ago Sept. 25, both will be making a trip to the firefighters’ memorial this weekend.
They plan to be there Sunday as the names of Rankin, Steffy and three other Pennsylvania firefighters who died in the line of duty in 2011 will be added to the memorial, on the grounds of the National Fire Academy in Emmitsburg.
This weekend is the 31st national Fallen Firefighters Memorial Weekend, and a plaque with the names of 80 firefighters who died in the line of duty in 2011, plus five others from previous years, will be added to the firefighters’ memorial.
Sunday’s national service is expected to draw 6,000 people, including many family members of the deceased.
“I’m very proud of him and the work that he did on behalf of all of us, just like I was when he was alive,” Abby Rankin said Thursday of her husband, a life member of Lancaster Township’s department.
Along with Sunday’s memorial service, she is looking forward to today’s events for the family members of the fallen to connect with each other. After all, they know a lot about how the others feel, she said.
Her husband of five years died while conducting fire-training exercises at Lancaster County Fire School along Village Road.
Mark Steffy, whose father served 49 years with Rothsville and also previously was with other departments, said that “just to know there’s a place that honors them is special.
“And knowing that one is my father, that adds a whole other emotion to it,” he said.
Like Abby Rankin, he said it will be good “to be able to get together with all of them” - the family members of the other firefighters - because “just to sit down and talk with them will lead to a lot of healing.”
Abby Rankin plans to be there with her daughters, Sarah, 16, and Meaghan, 12, while Mark Steffy, his mother, Rosene, and others in his family also plan to attend.
Mark Steffy’s father died of a heart attack while directing traffic at the scene of an accident this past Nov. 10.
Other Pennsylvania firefighters who died in the line of duty and will be honored Sunday are fire police officer Christian Beaston Jr. of Hellam Fire Company, U.S. Air Force Airman 1st Class Derek Kozorosky and Valley Forge fire police Lt. John Lackovic.
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