The fallen: eight names at Seitz Park, and the department's memorial roll

2004–2026 · THE DEPARTMENT REMEMBERS ITS OWN

The Seitz Park memorial: In 2004 the South Bend Fire Department unveiled its memorial at Seitz Park, on the river below the Jefferson Boulevard bridge, honoring the firefighters of the department who died in the line of duty. The memorial carries eight names. The Tribune's coverage of the unveiling names one of the eight in its captions — Anthony Miller, whose daughter left a red carnation on the stone — and the department's teaching keeps the eight in front of every new class: in June 2014 the ten recruits about to be sworn in were brought to the memorial the day before their graduation to learn the stories behind the names, "some because of heroic acts, and others because of tragic mistakes," in retired firefighter Tim Janowiak's words, and to hear that the department had not seen an on-duty death for decades. The full text of the eight names is not published in the record reached; the memorial itself, at Seitz Park, is the roll, and the gap is named rather than filled.

The department's In Memory roll: The department's own page carries a second, wider memorial, headed "In Memory," for the firefighters the department recognizes as having "dedicated their lives to making the City of South Bend a safer place." It is printed here exactly as the department prints it, names and years as given: Private Richard "Doc" Brekrus (1990); Captain Tony Csenar; Captain Stanley J. Jackowiak; Bradley Jordon (1994); Battalion Chief Carl A. Williamson; Captain Tom Jozwiak; Captain Steve Sheets (2001); Captain Bruce Taylor (2002); Battalion Chief James Cole (2003); Captain Paul Belmarez (2005); Firefighter Fred Gunther (2012); Battalion Chief Kevin Kolber (2017); Firefighter 1st Class Joshua Comeau (2019); Captain David "Dutch" Koehler (2019); Firefighter 1st Class Jeremy Bush (2020); Firefighter 1st Class Mike Brown (2023); Captain Tom Adami (2024). The page does not mark these as line-of-duty deaths, and they are not printed as such; the line-of-duty roll is the eight at Seitz Park, and the two lists are kept apart here as the department keeps them.

Sources:

1. South Bend Tribune (2004) — the unveiling of the fallen firefighters' memorial at Seitz Park, honoring eight who died in the line of duty; Anthony Miller named in the Tribune's photo captions.
2. South Bend Tribune, 18 June 2014, via Firehouse — the recruit class at the Seitz Park memorial; eight names; no on-duty death for decades, per retired firefighter Tim Janowiak.
3. City of South Bend, Fire Department page (southbendin.gov, read November 2026) — the "In Memory" list, printed verbatim.