[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 23]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 31512-31513]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       HONORING ROBERT E. BONNELL

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. MARCY KAPTUR

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, November 14, 2007

  Ms. KAPTUR. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize Robert E. 
Bonnell of Toledo, Ohio. Toledo has been called a community of 
families. Bob Bonnell, an esteemed citizen of that community, seemed to 
have been born to create and embody ``Fireman Freddie, a friendly, 
caring, and wise man, who assumed a larger meaning as a loving father 
for all our community's children. Bob's vocation as a teacher and 
firefighter saved countless lives as children learned how to save 
themselves and the lives of their loved ones. They learned new lessons 
from a Santalike man who cared for them as he would his own children.
  Robert E. Bonnell remains a legend in the Toledo Community for his 
dedication to his community as a firefighter and to the education of 
the youth of Toledo about the value of safety. Mr. Bonnell became the 
department's first ``Fireman Freddy'' in 1973. It happened soon after 
the idea of a fire safety program--and the birth of Fireman Freddy--
originated in 1972 when Mr. Bonnell was a ladder truck driver at 
Station 6 at Starr and Euclid avenues, where he seemed to have a 
special rapport with school groups who came to tour the firehouse. He 
was asked to start the educational program and thought it would be a 
six-month assignment. But Mr. Bonnell hadn't stopped his two-schools-a-
day, five-day-a-week visits since January 1973, he told The Blade in an 
interview in December 1980, just before he retired.
  ``To tell you the truth,'' Mr. Bonnell said in a 1974 Toledo Blade 
article, ``children understand more than you think they do. I never

[[Page 31513]]

have to talk down to them. I just talk to them in the same way that I 
talk to adults. For some reason, it works.'' By the time he retired, 
Mr. Bonnell talked to more than 125,000 elementary students in Toledo 
public and Catholic schools and the Washington Local school district 
about fire prevention and fire safety.
  Robert E. Bonnell at age 80, passed away Monday, October 29, 2007 in 
St. Charles Mercy Hospital of congestive heart failure. He will be 
fondly remembered by the residents who recall being taught by the 
fireman about fire safety when they were in the fourth and sixth 
grades.
  Mr. Bonnell joined the Toledo Fire Department in 1956 and then served 
for 25 years, most of them as the department's ``Fireman Freddie'' 
until his retirement in 1981. During his early retirement he worked as 
a funeral attendant for the Eggleston Meinert Pavley Funeral Home in 
Oregon. ``He was a good old country boy, and he liked kids,'' retired 
Toledo Deputy Fire Chief Robert Schwanzl said. ``He was a storyteller 
and he had a special knack for telling stories and talking to children. 
And he was very dependable.''
  Born in Weston, West Virginia, on February 22, 1927, to Onal and 
Genevieve (Beamer) Bonnell, Mr. Bonnell, graduated from Lewis County 
High School in 1945, when he enlisted in the Army. During the last 
months of World War II, he was a staff sergeant in Germany. After his 
honorable discharge in 1947, he returned to West Virginia and later 
that year married his high school sweetheart, JoAnne Teter. A short 
time later, the couple settled in Toledo.
  In his free time, Mr. Bonnell, who in retirement lived in Northwood 
and most recently in Walbridge, enjoyed collecting cuff links, of which 
he had 4,000, and marbles, of which he had more than 50,000. He also 
liked visiting garage sales, hunting, and fishing. He loved spending 
time with his family and being ``Pudding Papa'' to his great-grandson.
  ``Dad had a zest for life,'' his son, Gregory, said ``He loved 
people, loved his family, and he loved to have a good time. [And] he 
was a hard worker and a dedicated individual.'' Mr. Bonnell was a 
funeral attendant for the Eggleston Meinert Pavley Funeral Home in 
Oregon during his early retirement years.
  His memberships included the Arthur Daly American Legion Post, the 
National Rifle Association, Paragon Lotus Lodge F&AM, Zenobia Shrine 
(Stewards, Hillbillies and Wood County) VFW Post #2510 and 40-8 Society 
of the American Legion, and the Scottish Rite, all in Toledo. In 1988, 
he received the Meritorious Service Award from the Scottish Rite where 
he had life membership.
  Surviving are his loving wife, JoAnne, with whom he just celebrated 
60 years of marriage (June 28, 1947); children, Gregory (Mary) Bonnell 
and Beverly (Kevin) Sawyer; grandchildren, Angie and Brianne Sawyer, 
Rob, Mike, Adam and Brian Bonnell and great-grandchildren, Kleiston and 
Ria. Bob was preceded in death by his parents, his 2 brothers and a 
sister.
  He will be missed by the Sisters of Notre Dame especially Sister Mary 
Theresa. He will be sorely missed and fondly remembered by all the 
lives he touched in our Toledo community. The world was made a better 
place by the life of Bob Bonnell. May his works inspire others who 
follow in his golden steps.

                          ____________________