Fallen Boston Firefighter Remembered as a 'Jake's Jake' Who Loved the Job
Funeral information for Robert Kilduff has been announed: A wake will be held May 31, from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Saint Theresa of Avila Church, 2078 Centre St., West Roxbury, MA. The funeral will be held at 10:00 a.m. June 1 at Cathedral of the Holy Cross, 1400 Washington St., Boston.
Outside the house where longtime Boston firefighter Robert “Bobby” Kilduff, Jr., fell to his death late Saturday night, a memorial grew to remember a man who saved so many lives — while back at his Rescue 2 station his team honored the man they called the “heart of this firehouse.”
“I can say for sure, (Bobby Kilduff “BK”) was exactly where he wanted to be at the time death called — being a Jake,” said Rescue 2 Lieutenant Greg Kelly, flanked by dozens of Kilduff’s colleagues and friends in their station. “He was in the building, he was on the fire floor, and he was taking charge. We love him. We miss him. God bless him.”
At the scene of the Dorchester house fire — which rose to three-alarms in the triple-decker home on Treadway Road before claiming Kilduff’s life Saturday night — a growing display of flowers piled before the scorched home in the firefighter’s memory.
Multiple charred holes gaped where the fire shot through the roof, and the scene remained quiet and somber in the drizzling rain as firefighters gathered and worked on the scene through the early afternoon Sunday.
At the Boston Fire Rescue 2 station, firefighters outlined the spot where Kilduff left his shoes before he got on the rig, with one of the retired members of the company suggesting they mark his shoeprint with the phrase, “Too big to fill.”
Kilduff was a third-generation firefighter, a father of two, a Marine veteran, a volunteer with organizations like the Gary Sinise Foundation, a coach and so much more, his friends and colleagues remembered Sunday.
“It’s true, he was a jake’s jake,” said his colleague of 14 years Victor Gaybor. “A hard charger. He was the man. We went to him, and he did what he could for all of us.”
Kilduff’s colleagues contend the long-time rescuer may have seen more fires than any other current firefighter on the Boston force, rescuing innumerable lives, and “was always involved in everything helping firefighters.”
In just the 48 hours before his death, Kelly said, Kilduff had been involved in rescuing a girl in danger of jumping from a building near Fenway and rescuing a homeless man trapped in a confined space in an MBTA yard.
When the Mayday call came in, Kelly said, as he choked up, his “first thought” was that BK would be going to help whoever was in need.
“I couldn’t imagine that BK, he’s usually the one to save the people, and I couldn’t imagine that,” said Kelly. “He just has got so much experience; he’s so sharp under fire.”
A group of firefighters followed Kilduff to the hospital where he was pronounced dead to “surround him with love,” the lieutenant said. At the station, his colleagues said, he will be “irreplaceable.”
His team called Kilduff a dedicated family man, who cared deeply about making time for his kids.
“He always took time to make sure that your family was good every time you walked through the door first,” said Rescue 2 firefighter Alector Tavares. “He always stressed — because of his experiences when his father passed away from cancer, and he thought he had time and he didn’t — he said, ‘Make sure you always make time for your family, your kids, because you don’t know your day.’ I never thought a million years would be here in a press conference for my friend Bobby.”
Actor Gary Sinise posted a commemoration of Kilduff, noting the firefighter’s volunteer work with his foundation aimed at helping America’s military veterans, first responders, and their families.
“Sadly today we mourn the loss of Boston firefighter Bobby Kilduff, killed in the line of duty last night,” Sinise said on Instagram. “Bobby (BK) served in the (U.S. Marine Corps) before becoming a firefighter and was a dedicated volunteer of the Gary Sinise Foundation. Our hearts go out to his family and all he served with. Thank you BK.”
Some of the firefighters gathered at the station Sunday had not yet slept since the fire broke out late the night before, Kelly said. Some were wiping tears, while others choked up as they spoke of their friend.
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“We just ask that on this Memorial Day weekend, you remember BK, you remember our crew here on Rescue 2, and you remember all the Boston firefighters,” said Kelly. “Anything, anytime, any place, if someone in Boston’s in trouble, we’re coming for them.”
Kilduff also served as the informal “company historian” and “center hub,” the team said, organizing everything from shirt tributes for a firefighter recently passed from cancer, to a memorial ceremony for one who died just after World War II, to reaching out to keep retirees from the company in the loop.
“It’s almost like Rescue 2 was BK’s company,” said Kelly. “We were all just passing through here for a period with him. BK is Rescue 2.”
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