‘Taught so many so much’: Fresno Fire Captain Walt Sickler laid to rest

CLOVIS, Calif. ( KSEE/KGPE ) – It was a day of raw emotion at The Well Community Church in the City of Clovis, as family, friends, and fellow firefighters were all on hand to honor the life and legacy of one of Fresno’s finest, Fresno Fire Capt. Walt Sickler, who lost his battle to job-related cancer on Aug. 6.

It kicked off, as the man of the hour got an arrival fit for a king, his casket carried on an antique Fresno Fire flatbed truck, draped with an American flag, with a convoy of emergency vehicles tailing in the precession.

It was a triumphant and emotional entrance certainly earned by the 27-year Fresno Fire vet.

A real-life hero to so many who lost his life only months after he retired in May.

He was just 55 years old and left behind his wife, Trina, their 12-year-old son, and countless others whose lives he touched.

Just how many that is, could be seen by the hundreds of firefighters, community members, friends, and family in attendance.

“I was indeed blessed to be loved by him,” said Trina Sickler. “Walt was taken home to be with the lord before we were ready let him go. Leaving his face in our hearts that will forever remain,” she said.

Walt Sickler was born in Syracuse, New York in 1969.

After growing up out east, his service to the community and the world truly kicked off his senior year of high school, when he entered the Navy.

He would serve six years, a time including service in the Gulf War.

As his time in the Navy wound down, his last station was in Alameda, where he quickly decided to make California home.

Sickler would go on to join the Fresno Fire Department in 1996.

His wife says he lived and breathed to serve the lord and his fellow man, whether it was through fighting fires, training newcomers, giving advice, or his world-renowned humor or sarcasm.

“Walt was in his element on a good working fire, often said to have been on more roofs than Santa,” said Trina with a smile.

Some of his dearest friends explained how the fire captain changed the department and those in it for the better.

“A man who taught so many so much and was instrumental in making us the men and women we are. Through his influence on us he has had a hand in countless acts of service and heroism,” said Fresno Fire Battalion Chief Brian Price.

Price would also go on to reveal more to Walt’s son, speaking to him in the audience from the podium, about the larger-than-life man’s true pride and joy.

“Your father had so much to be proud of here in the Fresno Fire Department. But all of that pride pales in comparison to how proud he was to hold the title to be your father,” said an emotional Price.

With Sickler’s passing making him just the latest in a growing list of Fresno Firefighters to die from job-related cancer, one of those closest to him, from meeting him as a 19-year-old rookie to helping train his final class of new firefighters alongside him, left a piece of advice to others in attendance.

“Train till you can’t get it wrong. Leave it better for the other guy and fight like hell to get back to your people because ‘it’s about time’,” said Capt. Koby Johns.

Captain Sickler’s final resting place now sits at Belmont Cemetery in Fresno, where he was buried surrounded by loved ones and those closest to him.

A cherished community hero and friend gone far too soon.

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