Anne Arundel County Volunteer Firefighters Association

Russell Sears was a 73-year member of the West Annapolis Volunteer Fire and Improvement Company, Inc. He was a long-time trustee and treasurer for the fire department. He was the one who was always around the firehouse fixing things and meeting people that were fixing things that he couldn’t. He was also always there for the new members and to guide them on their journey to be a firefighter.

When the company moved out of the city to its present location on Jennifer Road, Russell would come to the site every night after work and work long into the night putting in the plumbing for the new station.

Russell was active with the Anne Arundel County Volunteer Firefighter’s Association. He was inducted in the Hall of Fame in 1998. Years ago and for a long period of time, he was Chairman for the County Association Hospitality House in Ocean City each year for the Maryland State Firemen’s Association Convention. He was also known as a behind the scenes person.

Russell was inducted in the Maryland State Firemen’s Association Hall of Fame in 1989.

Russell was also very active volunteer with the Maryland State Police for almost 50-years. He also volunteered at the Maryland State Police Barracks on Taylor Avenue. His dedication to the State Police was unmatched by any other. It was ironic that Russell would pass away the same time that the Governor of Maryland would close the Barracks and combine its operations with the Glen Burnie Barracks.

Russell passed away on 14 February 2010 at the age of 88. He was honored by both the Fire Service and the Maryland State Police with a combined funeral service and escort to the cemetery.

Paul W. Gillespie — The Capital \ file
The late Russell Sears stands in front of the old Maryland State Police barracks where he was a volunteer for 46 years. He also put in 73 years as a volunteer with the West Annapolis Fire Company.

He was called Russ, pop and uncle.

But no matter what Russell Sears was called he will be remembered for his bigger than life smile and making everyone feel like a friend.

For 73 years, he volunteered at the West Annapolis Volunteer Fire Company 40, first at its Melvin Avenue station and, later, at the Jennifer Road site, near the hospital. He also was a 48-year volunteer with the Maryland State Police.

"No one knew the Annapolis barracks better than he, including the commanders," said 1st Sgt. David Sharp of Berlin. "He was a huge help to me and always supportive."

Sears, 88, died on Valentine's Day. His wife of 171/2 years and friend of 41 years, Hazel Dittman Sears, was by his bedside, holding his hand when he died of causes related to cancer.

To honor him for his dedicated service, Sears was given a Level II Firefighters funeral, usually reserved for active, career firefighters. Friday morning, his hearse followed Tanker 40, a fire engine dedicated in 1996 to Sears and the late Roland Tayman, another longtime volunteer.

"We had a happy life together," said Hazel Sears, also a longtime State Police volunteer. "We went to Mardi Gras in New Orleans 25 years in a row. We managed to do an awful lot of things many people don't get to do."

The two were married on July 31, 1992, surrounded by relatives and dozens of police officers on the steps of the Annapolis State Police barracks.

Born in 1921, Sears spent his first years on a farm where Nordstrom's now sits at Westfield Annapolis mall. The family lost the farm during the Great Depression. By age 15, Sears began volunteering at the West Annapolis Fire & Improvement Company. He then enlisted in the Navy during World War II.

Sears was honorably discharged in June 1946 and got a job at the Naval Academy as a ship fitter until 1962, when he was injured. He also worked as a weekend bartender at the Little Campus Inn on Maryland Avenue, now occupied by Galway Bay.

In later years, Sears worked for A.H. Smith, an asphalt company, before starting his own handyman and house-painting business. He worked full-time until he was 80. In addition to the fire company and police, Sears was active in many clubs and organizations.

"He always wanted to give back to the community," said his son, Russell Owen "Rusty" Sears Sr., 64, a retired county firefighter. "That's just how he was."

Sears Sr.'s wife, Louise, met her future father-in-law a few years before she met her husband.

"Pop was an antique collector and seller and he loved yard sales," she said. "With Pop, if you said a door needs to be fixed or oil changed in a car, he'd do it. At age 82, he was still up on the roof cleaning out and fixing the gutters."

Sears had an RV he and his wife used to travel around the country. During the Naval Academy Commissioning Week festivities, when the Blue Angels would fly over, Sears would park his RV under the Naval Academy bridge in Jonas Green Park. The couple would fill the RV with sodas, fried chicken, cole slaw, cookies, chips and other treats.

The state troopers who were handling traffic and crowds knew they could drop by the RV for a snack, a few minutes rest and words of encouragement.

When Lt. Mike Thompson, a 19-year State Police veteran, first met Sears in August 2007 he said he was "struck by how he endeared himself to everyone and gave them fatherly advice. He was a father figure."

Thompson learned that Sears finished many details on the barracks when it first opened in 1971, tasks the contractors did not complete.

"He had to fix things and hang doors," he said. "What selfless service he gave all of us. I wonder what drives a man to give so much and ask for so little in return?"

Sears helped the staff move to Glen Burnie when the Annapolis barracks closed in 2008.

"He was devastated, yet as we moved into the transition process, moving files to the barracks in Glen Burnie, Russ helped," Thompson said. "On June 26 at midnight, the command staff lowered the flags in the barrack's last ceremony. We folded the flags for the final time, officially closing the barracks. I presented the Maryland flag to Russ as an expression of our gratitude to him. There were tears running down his face."

State troopers like David Marshall of Crownsville and Kevin Rhodes of Grasonville relished taking the older man out on "ride-alongs" in their squad cars.

"He always complimented us on a job well done," said Marshall.

"He was part of the State Police family forever," added Rhodes, noting that Sears aided investigators by finding a 9 mm semi-automatic handgun a Canadian criminal had used to shot a trooper. Sears brought out his own personal metal detector and searched until he found it.

"I doubt I'll ever hear a story like that again," said 1st Sgt. Sharp with a sigh. "About someone who volunteered for that many years, who has given us their time for that length of time."