Shane M. Stewart
Ault-Pierce Fire Department – Colorado
Volunteer Captain
Date of Death: February 23‚ 2008
Age: 33

Shane Stewart was born in Sterling‚ Colorado‚ to Paul and Jeanette (Rathbun) Stewart and was raised in Greeley‚ Colorado. He graduated from University High School in 1994 and attended Aims Community College for the autobody repair program and fire training. He married his wife‚ Cyndee‚ on September 13‚ 1997. Shane worked in the autobody industry for several years‚ then joined the Colorado Department of Transportation as a road maintenance worker.

Family time was very important to Shane‚ and he loved doing activities with his sons‚ Blake and Logan‚ and his niece and nephews‚ Zachary‚ Shawna‚ and Luke. He enjoyed the mountains‚ four-wheeling‚ camping‚ and fishing with his family. He was an avid bow hunter and a member of the Colorado Bow Hunters Association. Shane always enjoyed wrestling as a boy‚ and he found a way to put his knowledge to use as a coach through the Highland Recreation Association. He enjoyed coaching his sons and nephews and often ended up helping the other coaches when the boys played football.

Shane and his family moved to Pierce in 2004. He wanted to find a way to participate in the community‚ and he remembered how his brother‚ Sean‚ enjoyed being a volunteer firefighter. Shane became a volunteer with the Ault-Pierce Fire Department in 2005. He especially liked fighting fires‚ although he soon learned that in a small community most of the calls were to respond to traffic accidents and medical emergencies. It made him feel good to help those in need. Shane recruited his brother and father to join the department‚ and he really enjoyed serving with them and the new friends he had made.

Shane didn’t just participate in emergency response for the department‚ but also in other department functions. He enjoyed driving the trucks in the local parades‚ and his family usually rode with him. He participated in the annual pancake breakfast and helped with Ault Days. He liked to volunteer to stand by for high school athletic events and to go to the elementary school to help with the smoke house. Shane felt like he had found something that he could turn into a career‚ and he had always hoped that one day the Ault-Pierce Department would need to hire full-time employees so he could be one of them.

Shane died in the line of duty early February 23‚ 2008‚ when he lost control of the fire truck he was driving while responding to a medical call for a stroke victim. He will be greatly missed‚ but his family takes comfort in knowing that he died doing what he loved.