Publisher’s Letter: Our Heroes in Time

At this unprecedented time in our nation’s history (at least in our lifetimes), we recognize and honor the many people who are continually on the front lines working in essential services serving the needs of us all.

Whether working directly in medical services, in public transit, in pharmacies, in hardware stores, in supermarkets, post offices or all the many people who work so hard to keep all of those places clean and sanitized so the rest of us benefit from a greater measure of safety — we salute you all!

And while there may be people who gave the full measure of devotion in the service of others whom we may not know about, recently, we were saddened to hear of the loss of a true Hero — Colorado Paramedic Paul Cary, 66 years old.

Paul Cary was already a distinguished member of society. For 30 years he had worked as a skilled and seasoned firefighter and paramedic with the Aurora Colorado Fire Department.

His family described Paul as a kind, dedicated human being who was extremely devoted to his work in saving the property and the lives of others. His colleagues described him as reliable and generous.

Having spent a lifetime helping and caring for others, when Paul heard the call for volunteers from around the country to come and help the sorely strained workers on the front lines in New York City, he signed up to go.

Paul arrived in New York City on April 1 to help first responders transport patients between medical sites and respond to a record number of sick calls — at its peak, more than 6,000 calls a day!

Around April 21, Paul was admitted to Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx with Covid-19 symptoms and he died on a ventilator on April 30.

Paul was the first line of duty death of a FEMA deployed volunteer. He leaves behind 2 sons and 4 grandchildren. Our most sincere condolences go out to Paul’s family, friends, and coworkers.

We may marvel at the calibre of a person who continually puts the welfare of others before their own — routinely, firefighters like Paul do this.

But during a pandemic front line workers are out there doing their jobs every day so that we continue to benefit from essential services and so that the rest of us can stay “safer at home.”

We acknowledge you all and we thank you all for your service.

May you all be safe.

May you all be well.

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Blaine Howerton