Legendary San Francisco firefighter Robert Toland died in his Half Moon Bay home Saturday after complications from Parkinson's Disease. He was 80.
Toland is credited with saving countless lives throughout his distinguished career, having been known to scale 270-foot cliffs when duty called.
"Terrifying," Toland once said of his job, which spanned over two decades. "Dangling on a rope, a steady stream of rocks and shale kicking out underfoot, and I'm thinking, 'What the hell am I doing here?' Then I realize how helpless the stranded hiker feels. After that, I think only of his safety."
Those top-notch lifesaving skills made him a mentor for young firefighters all over San Francisco. Then-San Francisco Mayor Dianne Feinstein even declared June 2, 1984, "Robert Toland Day in San Francisco."
Toland was born and raised in San Francisco's Mission District. Almost immediately after graduating from Balboa High School in 1942, Toland joined the Army Air Forces as a bomber pilot, flying B-17s and B-29s in World War II.
He married Balboa High classmate Beatrice Lazzarini -- who wrote him letters while he was in the service -- in 1947.
After retiring from the San Francisco Fire Department in 1973, Toland moved to Pacifica where he worked as a Realtor for Dolphin Realty. He later purchased a Hallmark store in the Linda Mar Shopping Center, which he ran until the late 1980s with his wife, daughter Katherine, and son-in-law Gary.
He spent his free time cheering for the San Francisco 49ers, golfing, playing poker, and trout fishing in the Santa Cruz Mountains.
"Bob Toland was an unassuming man who always wanted to be remembered as one of the 'good guys,'" said his son, James Toland. "He certainly achieved that."
Toland is survived by his wife, Beatrice; children James Toland and Katherine Chinca; daughter-in-law Laura Toland; son-in-law Gary Chinca; grandsons Joseph and John Toland, and Robert and Nick Chinca; great-grandson Nicholas Chinca; and friend and longtime nurse Marge Lesky.
The rosary will be recited at Chapel of the Sea in Pacifica at 7 p.m. today. A funeral Mass will be celebrated at noon Wednesday at St. Peter's Catholic Church in Pacifica, with interment services in the Italian Cemetery in Colma.
