LAWRENCE — City firefighters bid farewell to a Polish American World War II veteran who at age 103 was the department's oldest living retiree.
A funeral procession for Henry Tuminowski, who served on the department from 1950 to 1976, passed Fire Department headquarters on Lowell Street at noontime Wednesday.
On-duty firefighters and 10 new recruits currently in training stood outside at attention and saluted.
Tuminowski, of Lawrence, died Monday, Jan. 29, at the Nevins Nursing & Rehabilitation Centre in Methuen, where he last resided.
His wife of 74 years, Anna (Zieba) Tuminowski, 102, died 11 days earlier.
"That doesn't surprise me at all. I am surprised they didn't pass away on the same day," said Deputy Fire Chief Jack Meaney.
Meaney was among a group of firefighters who visited the couple at Nevins last summer for a birthday party.
Soft spoken but very talkative and alert, Tuminowski told Meaney he'd worked with his father, the late Walter Meaney, on the Fire Department.
Both Walter Meaney and Tuminowski were hired as firefighters after World War II.
Walter Meaney died of occupational cancer in 1979 when Jack Meaney was just 10 years old.
"He said they had worked on the ambulance together and on Engine 5. I was really blown away by that," Meaney recalled Wednesday.
Through conversation at the birthday party, other firefighters learned that Tuminowski had worked with members of their families or extended families, Meaney said.
When it came time for a picture with the firefighters, Tuminowski insisted he would stand.
"He absolutely refused to sit. He said, 'I'm not sitting in front of these men. I'm standing,'" Meaney recalled.
Tuminowski was thrilled to check out Engine 5 and have his picture taken in front of it, he added.
Meaney said he wished he had the chance to spend a little more time with Tuminowski.
"I kind of wanted to get him in the deputy's car and drive him around the city. He would have loved that," Meaney said.
Tuminowski served in the U.S. Army during World War II — Methuen's second volunteer under the Selective Service Act. He was stationed in Hawaii with the Quartermaster Corps, according to his obituary.
In addition to his Fire Department career, Tuminowski was on the Board of Directors of the Julian Stopyra Polish American War Veterans Post and the Lawrence Firefighters Credit Union. He attended Holy Trinity Church in Lawrence and later St. Lucy's Parish in Methuen, according to his obituary.
A Red Sox fan, he enjoyed taking day trips with his wife and family. The couple traveled all over the country and to Poland.
He is survived by several daughters, several grandchildren and many nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by four brothers: Edward, Alfred, Leonard and Walter, according to the obituary.
On Wednesday after his funeral Mass at St. Monica Church in Methuen, Tuminowski was buried at St. Mary/Immaculate Conception Cemetery in Lawrence, according to arrangements handled by Kenneth H. Pollard Funeral Home.
"He was just a top-notch guy," said Meaney, noting Tuminowski was part of the "Greatest Generation" of World War 11 survivors.
"They don't make them like that anymore," he said.
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