Funeral Homily for Firefighter Terry Tate

by Fr. Jim Schmitmeyer


“There is no greater love than to lay down one’s lives for one friends.”
John 15:14

If you look around enough, you find them.
If you look hard enough, you see them.

You find them camped out in the deserts of Afghanistan
and hold up in cities like Ramadi.

You find them in ER rooms and operating rooms here at home.

You find them amid the flames of flares on the highway,
you catch a glimpse of their faces in the strobe of flashing lights.

I’m talking about heroes.
I’m talking about people like Terry.

They patrol the streets of our city in the dead of night,
they and rescue people from trenches at construction sites,
and pull people from cars
stranded in the rushing waters of swollen creeks.

I’m talking about the heroes and heroines of our society,
people who, day in and day out, put their lives on the line.
People who lay down their lives, not only for their friends
but for their country, their city, their community, their neighbor.

People like Terry.
People like his wife, Cindy.
People like his brother, Tim.

People like so many of you here
who knew Terry and worked with him.
And shared with him the passion to rescue,
to deliver and come to the assistance
of those in need…
not tomorrow, not next week,
but every time the radio crackles and a call comes through.

You look around, you find them.
Heroes.
On the block where you live.
In the parish where you worship.
In the family that you love.

* * *

It’s an honor to know people like Terry.
It’s a privilege to have them
in your family
and down the street
and on your side of town.

* * *

And, speaking of our side of town,
that’s part of what makes the Westside unique, don’t you think?

We have a lot of people like Terry
on our side of town.

You know, whenever people ask me where I’m from
I tell them I’m a pastor of St. Al’s in Bridgetown.

If they’re from the Westside, a smile forms on their face.

If they’re from the East Side,
they back off.

And if they don’t I make sure they understand
that Westside is the best side

That’s because the best collar…is a blue collar.

Now, obviously, good people are found all over the city.
I’m sure the East Side of town has its share of blue collar heroes as well.

But the Westside is known for being blue collar.

And the bluest collar of all
is found on the uniforms of heroes like Terry.

It’s what we’re known for.

And what you’re known for is important.

* * *

Everyone here knows what Terry Tate
was known for.




He was known as a husband and father
who worked hard
and loved Cindy and their children
with all his heart and all his strength.

He was known as someone who gave his all:
EMS coordinator, Golf Outing for the Needy coordinator,
arson investigator, hazardous material handler,
firefighter, organ donor, life saver.

My gosh, he was even getting ready to learn how diffuse bombs
to protect us from the terrorists.

Hero.

That’s the word that describes him best.
Terry is known as a hero.

He grew up here on the Westside, a typical boy
who honored his father and loved his mother
and showed his younger brother the ropes.

Terry was intelligent.
He loved to read, he loved to cook, he loved to sing.

In short, he loved life and lived it as fully as he could.

It’s important… what you’re known for.
And these are just some of the things
Terry was known for.

* * *

Now, as you can tell,
I hold firefighter, police officers and nurses
in high regard.

In some ways, their work is a lot like mine.
They save bodies, I save souls.

And sometimes the two go hand in hand.

Everyone of us here today
know what Terry Tate was known for.

A couple of years ago,
I had the opportunity to ride an Air Care Helicopter.
It wasn’t an emergency run.
I joined the pilot on a refueling run
from University Hospital down to Lunken Field.

It was springtime.
The helicopter glided low across the hills of Clifton
then over the downtown skyscrapers.
The flight was as smooth and gentle
as the graceful curves of the Ohio River.

Cincinnati is such a beautiful city.
And from that distance, all looked peaceful and serene.
Yet, as so many of you here know,
concealed among the trees and hills,
between the houses and in the alleys of our city,
sirens and flashing lights mark places of panic and despair.

And you are the ones who respond.
You are the ones who are sent.

In police cars and ambulances,
helicopters and fire trucks
you seek out the places of pain.
You hurry to do what you’ve been trained to do.

After all, that’s what you’re known for.

And sometimes you arrive in time
and sometimes you arrive too late.

Sometimes a miracle seems to take place,
but other times, no matter how hard you try,
no matter how hard you fight,
life is lost and evil appears to win the day.

Yet, no matter how discouraged you may become,
you continue to respond, don’t you?

Again and again.

It’s what you’re known for.

* * *

Well, I know a Savior who shares the same reputation.
Like an EMT arriving in an ambulance,
like a pilot touching down at the scene of an accident,
he seeks out the pain and heads straight for the trouble.

It’s what he’s known for.

But sometimes, in our eyes, he sometimes arrives too late.

Yet the Divine Responder is the Eternal Responder.

When evil appears to win the day
and tragedy wrecks our lives and destroys our dreams,
he does not fling his helmet to the ground
or collapse the gurney then walk away.

Rather, he remains.

It’s what he’s known for.

He remains.

At our side.
In the darkness of our doubt
Amid the orange flare of our anger.
Amid the sharp sirens of our screams and sorrow.
He remains.

As once he remained on the cross.
To show us that death is not something God desires,
but something God suffers.

And he suffers with us now.

* * *

Last Friday, we lost a hero.
Terry was and will always be a hero.

Christ laid down his life out of love for Terry.

Today, he welcomes him home.

He welcomes home a hero.