JAMES HARGRAVE
– Procession to follow memorial
After Friday’s memorial service for James Hargrave, a procession of firefighters will follow the family to the Cypress Centre, and the public is welcome to line the route as a show of respect, says the Medicine Hat Police Service.
The service for Hargrave, 34, a rancher from the Walsh area who passed away last week after helping to fight a fire near Hilda and Burstall, will take place Friday, 1 p.m. at Holy Family Parish in Medicine Hat. A reception will follow at the Cypress Centre at the Stampede grounds.
Rev. Chelsea Masterman, from the family’s place of worship at the United Church in Irvine, will be officiating at the memorial service. If you are attending the service, at the request of the family, please do not wear black.
“Immediately following the funeral service firefighters in attendance will be escorting the funeral procession and the Hargrave family in a march from the Holy Family Parish to the Cypress Centre,” reads a traffic advisory issued by the MHPS.
The procession is expected to take place sometime between 2 and 3:30 p.m. There will be temporary road closures in the area to allow for the funeral procession. Police urge motorists to use an alternative route during this time.
The procession will leave Holy Family Parish heading north on 13th Avenue SE to Southview Drive, where it will head east to Dunmore Road and then turn on to 28th Street SE to the Cypress Centre.
“Those wishing to pay their respects to firefighter Hargrave may do so by lining the route, but please be mindful that traffic lanes in the opposing direction will remain open in order to alleviate congestion in the area,” says the release.
It is about 40 years since a procession of firefighters took place at a funeral in Medicine Hat. It was Dec. 1, 1978 when, “Members of the city fire department, police, the Royal Canadian Legion, the Calgary Highlanders, and the family and friends of Henry Paulson paid their last respects to the 59-year-old firefighter, who died in an apartment fire last Friday,” reads an excerpt from the book, Medicine Hat Fire Department 100 years of dedication and service.
Of all the firefighters in the province, 80 per cent are volunteers. In fact, 97 per cent of Alberta’s fire departments are operated by volunteers, accounting for 450 departments, according to the Alberta Volunteer Firefighters website.
“Volunteer firefighters do an invaluable service to our communities across the country,” said Medicine Hat MP Glen Motz. “They save lives and they save livelihoods. They are willing to put themselves in harms way to protect peoples’ property, to protect people’s lives and in many cases putting themselves at risk.”
James Hargrave is the “grandson of Bert Hargrave, who proudly stood in the House as the Member of Parliament for Medicine Hat years before me,” reads part of a statement made by Motz in the House of Commons.
James Hargrave leaves behind his wife Elizabeth and their four children, Hudson, 6; Alec, 4; Savannah, 2; and Isabelle, six months.