Colleagues, Family Mourn as Final Bell Tolls for Fallen Worcester MA Firefighter Lt. Jason Menard

Thousands of firefighters came from across New England, across the country and even Canada. Hundreds of them stood shoulder-to-shoulder outside St. John’s Church in Worcester, solemnly looking ahead as the procession made its way to the church.

Cold raindrops fell as Engine 4 carried Worcester Fire Lt. Jason Menard’s casket to the church as if the sky was shedding tears for the fallen hero.

Menard, a husband and father of three, was killed in the line of duty on Nov. 13 while responding to a four-alarm fire on Stockholm Street in Worcester. Officials say Menard, 39, led one firefighter back to the stairs and pushed another out a window, saving his life, as the flames engulfed the three-decker home that had become an inferno.

As uniform-clad firefighters bore Menard’s casket into the church, Menard’s wife, Tina, and the couple’s three children, Josh, Hailee and Morgan, exited a white funeral car and entered the church.

The more than 400 members of the Worcester Fire Department were in attendance, filling the church to capacity to attend the service, as firefighters from nearby communities manned the city’s stations to answer emergency calls.

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Jason and Tina Menard were high school sweethearts who met at Doherty Memorial High School.

During the funeral service Monday, Father Walter Riley said as he sat by Menard in the trauma room of the hospital the morning he died.

“I asked God to bring his spirit back. Because I just didn’t want to do this again," Riley said.

“Our entire city struggles again alongside our dedicated fire department,” Riley said. “Not only do we have a beautiful family hurting, but we have a city that shakes its head in disbelief.”

“Jason is one of us, born and raised here,” Riley said. “He didn’t move to Holden or Paxton, avoiding all of their ice storms,” he joked. “A very smart man.”

But a reoccurring theme during Menard’s wake and funeral was “this is what we do," referencing the task firefighters take on by protecting others.

“They are apostles of our city, who lay down their life for their friends,” Riley said of the firefighters.

“Jesus said there is no greater love" than to lay down one’s life for their friends, Riley said to the gathered congregation, saying Menard’s sacrifice was born out of love, a love that was present in all aspects of his life, from his family to those he worked with.

Riley said we might ask why Menard had to take that love to the extreme answer of laying down his life, leaving behind loved ones.

“Our brother’s heroic actions last Wednesday morning was made possible by his unconditional love from his family,” Riley said.

“He loved his work without hiding it,” Riley said. “After marrying Tina, becoming a father three times, his next best day was becoming a lieutenant. His life is from a storybook, but it’s not a fairytale, it’s the real deal. The book of enjoying life, of enjoying people, the book of enjoying his work. And that he did.”

Drawing Biblical parallels between Worcester and Jesus’s hometown of Nazareth, Riley played off the John 1:46 verse, can anything good come out of Nazareth?

“Can anything good come from Worcester?” Riley asked. “Not only is the answer to this question yes, but his life and his saving actions for his fellow firefighters take that yes to its highest form.”

As Worcester Fire Local 1009 President Michael Papagni gave the final toll of the bell for Menard, firefighters from other communities milled about outside the church. Some stood quietly, hands folded as they listened.

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