3 New Kensington brothers among 10 to be honored for 50 years of volunteer firefighting service

The Davis boys looked up to Tippy.

Growing up in New Kensington’s Parnassus neighborhood in the 1960s, elder brother Larry, twins John and Perry, and Bruce, the youngest of the four, would see their neighbor and volunteer firefighter H.C. “Tippy” Robertson run out of his house when the fire whistle blew.

“We were always out on our street playing. We’d see him coming out of his house, getting in his car and going to the fire station,” John Davis said. “We’d run to the fire station, watch him put his gear on, get on a truck and leave the station. Many times we would follow the firetruck. If it was close by, we’d watch them work at the fire.”

Inspired by Robertson, the four brothers joined the fire department — Larry first in March 1973, followed later that year by John and Perry, and, lastly, by Bruce in September 1979.

This year, Larry, 69, and John and Perry, 68, are among 10 New Kensington volunteer firefighters who will be recognized for 50 years of service at the department’s 73rd annual banquet, scheduled for Nov. 11 at Knead Community Café’s banquet hall.

Recently gathered at the No. 2 fire station along Freeport Street, the brothers reflected on their decades of service when the siren sounded.

“The adrenaline still starts to flow,” John said.

Fire Chief Ed Saliba Jr., 56, who is going on 38 years with the department, said this year marks the first time 10 firefighters will be honored in one ceremony for 50 years of service each — half a millennia in total.

With Bruce’s 44 years included, the Davis brothers have nearly 200 years of service combined.

Saliba said they’re “a good bunch of guys.”

“They were the first family to have four brothers join the fire department. Every one of them, from Larry down to Bruce, has been active every one of those years. Each one has contributed tremendously to our organization,” Saliba said.

“They all have been a very big asset to not only our fire department but to the city and the neighboring municipalities that we provide mutual aid service to.”

The brothers are all members of the city’s No. 2 engine company.

Larry worked for New Kensington’s road crew as a truck driver and heavy-equipment operator. His fire service included time as a lieutenant and captain and president of the company, assistant commander on the hazardous materials team, and member and president of its ambulance corps.

John, who recently retired from his career in sales and marketing, served as lieutenant, captain and assistant chief as well as on the hazardous materials team and ambulance corps. He also was chairman of Community Days.

A retired health care executive, Perry still serves as a department safety officer and secretary at No. 2. He has been a lieutenant, an emergency medical technician, president of the ambulance corps and a member of the hazardous materials team.

Larry said Tippy asked him to join the department in 1973 when he realized Larry was old enough.

“At first, I didn’t want to join,” Larry said, adding that he changed his mind because of Tippy. “I had a lot of respect for the man. He was my neighbor all our life.”

John and Perry, who are 13 months younger than Larry, joined later that year when they turned 18, and Bruce followed in 1979. Bruce, 62, is one of the department’s eight assistant chiefs.

When they would have to leave their homes and families in the middle of the night or go to a fire in freezing weather, Perry said, they’d sometimes wonder why they still did it.

“It just gets in your blood,” he said. “The sense of camaraderie is the piece that keeps you going, that you’re helping someone in need. When the alarm goes off, I don’t know any different.”

Perry’s daughter, Sarah Lindey, said her father’s service gave her pride, but it also brought worry.

“You never knew when a fire was going to come in. We could be sitting down for dinner or getting ready for bed, and he would just go,” she said. “I always felt a sense of calmness knowing my whole family was there and they were looking out for each other.”

The brothers have seen more than their share of tragedy. Larry recalled two children who died when they hid in a cupboard during a fire at East Ken Manor.

Perry remembers fellow New Kensington firefighter Eric Mangieri, who was just 25 when he died while battling a fire in August 1995. He remains the only firefighter in the department’s history to die in the line of duty, Saliba said.

“I often think about that night,” Larry said.

At the same time, Larry, who was more active in the ambulance service, remembered losing a 7-year-old to cardiac arrest within his first few years.

“He threw up on us,” he said. “To this day, I can’t stand the smell of grape bubblegum.”

But it was the Aug. 12 house explosion in Plum’s Rustic Ridge neighborhood that Perry said was the worst tragedy in terms of devastation and loss of life that he has seen. He was on a New Kensington engine that responded to the incident, which claimed six lives.

“You couldn’t walk within 100 feet of the properties because of all of the debris,” he said. “It was like a bomb had blown up.”

As the brothers followed in Tippy’s footsteps, their children and grandchildren are following in theirs.

One of Perry’s eight grandchildren, Kevin Kranik, 15, is a junior firefighter at the Logans Ferry Heights department in Plum.

“He always said he wanted to be a firefighter like Pappy Perry,” said Perry’s wife, Lynda.

John’s son, Eric, 27, became a firefighter in Freeport this year.

A resident of Buffalo Township, Eric Davis said he joined Freeport’s department because he is investing in the borough, restoring the building that housed the John Shoop men’s clothing store, and has the time to give. He is still in training.

“My father and uncles were definitely a big inspiration to me,” he said. “The fire station was almost like a second home to me, going there with my dad, hanging out around the guys, watching how everything worked. I looked up to them for their service to the community.”

Lindey said her 4-year-old son, Ryder, wants to be a firefighter, and he’s dressing up as one for Halloween.

“He loves to go to the fire hall with my dad. All he talks about is being a fireman like Grandpa,” she said. “I’m very proud of them. It’s an honor to be part of their family.”

Tippy, who was a 58-year member of the New Kensington fire department and an assistant chief for many years, was 81 when he died in January 2004. He and his wife, Jean, had a daughter but no sons.

Larry said Tippy might have seen him and his brothers as the sons he never had. If he was around today, Larry said, Tippy would be excited to see them marking their milestone in the department.

“I think he’d be proud,” Perry said.