Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

Journal photo / Bill Murphy

An honor guard of Tiverton fire fighters lifts the casket of fellow Tiverton fire fighter Gerald R. Leduc onto the back of a Providence Fire Department Honor Guard tender, as Leduc's funeral procession leaves the Auclair Funeral Home in Fall River. Leduc died while searching for a missing boater in Tiverton, Sunday.

TIVERTON -- The eastern sun shone behind the altar as the Rev. Peter Andrews told mourners for Tiverton firefighter Gerald Leduc this morning there was "not a moment he didn't stop offering himself to this town."

There wasn't room enough inside St. Theresa Church here for all who wanted to offer tribute to Leduc, 52, who died Aug. 3 from apparent cardiac arrest while diving in Stafford Pond in search of missing boater Joseph Traficante of Rehoboth, whose body was recovered Tuesday.

Leduc, who lived on Stafford Pond and knew the area well, was on his day off when he responded to a page of a man overboard.

Hundreds of firefighters, many from far-away states, and hundreds of other people gathered inside this small-town church, or in a tent outside with a sound system, as Andrews spoke. Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch, State Police Supt. Col. Brendan Doherty, Providence Fire Chief George S. Farrell, and U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy were among those on hand.

Inside, beneath a cathedral ceiling, with the casket in front of the altar, Andrews called the fallen veteran firefighter by his first name, Gerry. He told the gathered, Leduc "would have been truly honored by what has happened today and by your presence. But he would be taken aback and would have said it was too much" -- that those left behind needed to hold this ceremony to come to terms with what happened.

"He called us," Andrews said, "to be better than we already are."

Hundreds of firefighters attend

Earlier today, firefighters from around the country arrived in bright yellow school buses as their brethren from more than 23 towns unfurled flags and lined up outside the funeral home in Fall River, Mass.

In all, predictions ran as high as 15,000 people potentially attending the funeral, including firefighters from as far away as England.

Fire trucks parked near the funeral home, with ladders erect, and an American flag suspended between them. Representatives from state agencies were also on hand, as well as friends, family, and people who didn't know Leduc at all, but who have followed his story.

A cortege, including pipes and drum corps representing various firefighting companies, traveled more than a mile from the funeral home to St. Theresa Church in Tiverton, for the 10 a.m. Mass.

Outside the church, firefighters from seemingly everywhere -- one a former Tiverton firefighter who is now one in Georgia -- gathered.

A memorial fund has been set up in memory of Leduc, called the Gerald Leduc Memorial Fund. Contributions can be made at any Bank of America.

Journal photo / Bill Murphy

A Tiverton fire fighter carries the helmet of fellow Tiverton fire fighter Gerald Leduc, as Leduc's funeral procession leaves the Auclair Funeral Home in Fall River.

Read Leduc's obituary and sign the guestbook.

-- projo.com staff writers Brandie M. Jefferson and Michael P. McKinney, with reports from Journal staff writers Chloe Thompson and Gina Macris

 Tags  Tiverton

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