Friendly, hardworking, and a family man. These are just some of the ways Jerry Gadwa will be remembered.
“Jerry’s a unique person in himself. He’s a single father, raising his son on his own, and he’s always been out there working,” explained Jerry’s brother, Raymond Gadwa.
Jerry was a 49-year-old member of the Kehewin Cree Nation. He died unexpectedly on Thursday, July 26 while battling wildfires in Red Lake, ON.
Jerry stumbled onto his passion for firefighting 20 years ago, and never looked back.
“One of his passions, firefighting, wasn’t an intended goal at the time. But, he went in to train and do firefighting and he just picked it up from there.”
When he wasn’t battling fires during the summer, Jerry kept himself busy with yard work and raising his 10-year-old son, Jeramy.
“One of his passions was making sure his son gets what he needs and gets a good education. He’s always supported school activities, making donations for his son, and getting bake sales and what not for him to participate in,” Gadwa detailed.
One of 12 siblings, Jerry was a quiet person with a lot of friends. He’s described as someone who was easy to get along with.
“Jerry was a good man, he had a good attitude on him. He loved his nieces and nephews, he loved his son... He provided for him, and he was a real good father,” said long-time friend and fellow firefighter, Everett Stone. “I’ve known Jerry for almost 20 years. I had moved out to Alberta back in 1995 and I’ve known him since. I was a firefighter with him since 2003, but he was a firefighter years before I ever started.”
Having lived in Kehewin his entire life, Jerry has left a lasting memory in the community. Residents have come together during a time of grieving to help one another.
Stone said, “He was well-known by everybody in the community. He kind of kept to himself on the reserve, but he had a lot of friends from all over. It’s sad for everybody that he’s gone... Everybody’s taking it hard.”
Jerry was assisting with fire suppression, along with crews from Ontario and Mexico, on the fire being called Parry Sound 33, in northern Ontario. The fire grew to 10,000 hectares as of July 31.
He was a part of a firefighting company run by Goodfish Lake First Nation that has a contract to provide firefighters to the Government of Alberta. Bonnyville Regional Fire Authority (BRFA) Chief Brian McEvoy said the province made 400 firefighters available to help when the Ontario resources were overwhelmed.
This wasn’t the first time Jerry had gone out of province to help his fellow firefighters, and Stone said he was excited to go to Ontario.
“We did a lot of firefighting together, and he was good. He stayed professional, and he was a crew father. He was the main guy on the crew on any crew he got on. I spoke to him before he left for Ontario; he looked good and healthy.”
Gadwa noted that Jerry was dedicated to firefighting.
“When I did go down and talk to him, Jerry was always talking about his next trip out to fight fires and talking about the fires. That was his passion, and he’s always looked forward to going out right away. The only thing he didn’t like was leaving his son for 10 to 20 days at a time to a caregiver until he got back.”
Kehewin Cree Nation Chief Brenda Vanguard said the tight-knit community has come together to cope with the news, and the impact is felt by everybody.
“An unxpected death like this has everybody devastated, mostly the family members. Everybody is saddened by his sudden passing, and there’s been a lot of support coming in.”
Ontario firefighters paid tribute to Jerry following his death, by forming a procession to the airport when his body was being transported back to Alberta.
McEvoy said the BRFA arranged to escort Jerry when he returned home.
“When Jerry was returned from Ontario, he went to a local funeral home and we arranged with the Kehewin community to escort him out to Kehewin for the wake. We escorted him out with firetrucks from the funeral home to the community centre in Kehewin to start the wake,” said McEvoy.
He added that firefighters from the St. Paul, Cold Lake, and Ashmont fire departments, along with representatives from the Government of Alberta, and Alberta and Ontario agricultural and forestry departments attended the funeral on Thursday, Aug. 2.
McEvoy said the Bonnyville and Kehewin fire departments have worked closely together in the past, and the death of one of their own isn’t just being felt locally.
“Anytime a firefighter dies in the line of duty, it impacts the fire services across Canada.”
A GoFundMe page was started by one of Jerry’s nieces to raise funds for his son. So far, it has raised over $3,000.
“When we were planning his funeral, we all had different roles, and one of my nieces had the role to set-up (a GoFundMe page) to see what we could do for him,” Gadwa explained.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford took to social media to express his condolences to the Gadwa family, and thanked him for his services on behalf of the province’s residents.
Alberta Premier Rachel Notley said in a press release, “As Albertans, we know all too well the sacrifices of our firefighter and first responders. On behalf of the Government of Alberta, I want to offer our deepest condolences and support to the family, friends, and colleagues of Mr. Gadwa.”
