Gene Tutell

First met Gene on a construction site some 30+ years ago. He was a framer with my brother Jimmy. He was always competing about anything. He would say" hey lets see who can drive a 16 penny nail with less swings" Yep you are right he won. I would call him" Gene Gene the Dancing Machine" everytime I would see him on job sites. He would just laugh and shake his head. Fast forward to when we started working together in the Fire Service. Gene was fair to all. He would not ask you to do something...

I was the engineer on Genes first day assigned to engine one. It was obvious, the minute I met him, that he was an extraordinary man. He came to us a notch above expectation and never fell below the highest of professional standards. He set the bar high and mentored so many that came under his charge. How do you loose a giant like him? I guess the bottom line is that he is serving now in heaven having heard our Lord say to him “ Well done thou good and faithful servant”.

I’ll never forget the first time Gene and I met. He was doing a ladder training class for his crew in the back of Station 1 and he thought I was a reporter doing a story on the FD. We had a great conversation with Gene explaining what we do and how we use ladders. We laughed about that for a long time. I learned quickly Gene was a man of honesty and integrity. I trusted him without reservation. Gene was all about doing the right thing, regardless of the situation. He was an excellent mentor,...