Founders

Dr. Will Brooks

Bill Brooks’ involvement with firefighting began at the age of 9 when he responded to his first working fire. Will’s father was a town councillor at the time. The senior Brooks took his young son to the fire hall at every opportunity.

Although the seed was planted early, it would be several years after his childhood experience before Will donned turnouts of his own. This came in 1987 in Truro, Nova Scotia where he served as a firefighter, completed the Nova Scotia Fire School program, and eventually became Lt. of Rescue and Salvage and Lt. of a Ladder Co. with the Truro Fire Brigade.

As well as a very amateur historian, Will is a retired psychologist, counsellor and educator. Before retiring from practice and active fire service in 1995, he received various awards, mostly due to the Critical Incident Stress Management Program (CSIM) he helped develop with the Fire Officers Association of Nova Scotia, implemented and operated for Nova Scotia firefighters.

Will also worked for 15 years as Professor and Director of Student Services at the Nova Scotia Teachers’ College and, before that, two years as an Assistant Dean at Northern Illinois University. He has taught high school English and served on too many boards and committees to name.

During his time in Ottawa, Will has done numerous tasks, among them serving as the lead consultant to the Canadian Forces Member Assistance Program (CFMAP) and President of the Ottawa-Hull Military Family Resource Centre Board.

He has also had the rare opportunity to travel with NATO to most of the major cities in the Western World where, you guessed it; he spent time immersed in the firefighting services each provides. This was only possible given his marriage to Col (Ret.) Cheryl Lamerson, CD (2) Ph.D. who was attending NATO Defense College in Rome, Italy.

Undoubtedly, Will’s most cherished work has been that of Founder of the Canadian Fallen Firefighters Foundation. Along with Georges Potvin and Bill Williams, Will found the resources to start the ball rolling and host the offices of the Foundation in his home from 2002-2007.

After he stepped down, Will had 100 Founder’s Coins made. Several people have them, and Will uses them to encourage new firefighters to think about their work and act safely. Others have it as recognition of the vital role they have played in the Foundation’s development.

Will owned a 1951 Bickle-Seagrave fire engine. Will’s engine had its first home at Base Trenton in Ontario before it spent many years in Petawawa as the town’s first line pump. Recently, he donated it to Camp Borden the home of Canadian Forces firefighter training.In 2008, the fire engine Will had always dreamed of became available. It is a 1933 American LaFrance 750 GPM pumper seen at the left. She is known as “Matilda”.

Will now spends much of his time writing about old fire engines, doing photography, working on his ALF, and trying to be sure that at least one of his 5 grandchildren turns out to love the fire service as much as he does.

Mr. Georges Potvin 

Georges Potvin served in the Ottawa Fire Department for thirty three years. For 12 years, Georges was an Inspector with the Fire Prevention Bureau and Head of Public Education.

In 1980, Georges convinced the Chief that restoring a 1927 Sanford engine would be a way of developing esprit de corps among the firefighters at old # 10 fire station. This activity was the beginning of the Bytown Fire Brigade which was incorporated February 23, 1983 as a non-profit historical society dedicated to the preservation and appreciation of the history of firefighting.

In 1982, just for an energy outlet, Georges took first place in the Canadian Karate Open. Yes, he has a black belt!

In 2000, as part of the Millennium celebrations, Georges, along with family, friends and Bytown Fire Brigade members crossed Canada (St. John’s, Newfoundland to Victoria, British Columbia) with three antique fire engines.  Georges’ own truck, affectionately known as “Josephine”, was the only engine to cross the Rockies under her own power.  After this trip, Georges and Will Brooks joined with Bill Williams in several projects for the Bytown Fire Brigade.

Just after the events of 9/11, the three began with determination to create the Foundation to honour Canadian firefighters who had died in the line of duty.
The early days meant hours of planning, meetings, phone calls and e-mails to people all over Canada and the World. Georges’ natural energy and connections with many firefighters all over Canada made the process of building the Foundation much easier than it would otherwise have been.

During this time, at every opportunity, Josephine carried the Foundation colours as Georges explained to an interested public what CFFF-FCPMS means. The first four CFFF Memorial Ceremonies saw Josephine on the stage as a symbol of national unity which the Foundation has become.

For those who know Georges personally, especially his Ottawa contemporaries, there can be no doubt that the sincerity and commitment to the Canadian Fire Service he displays have been a major determinant in the success CFFF-FCPMS enjoys today.

Georges lives in Gatineau, Quebec with his spouse, partner and best friend Cecile Denis, a retired teacher.

Mr. Bill Williams

An Ottawa native, Bill Williams worked for many years in retail, mainly in his father’s store, Hobbyland, a well known Ottawa landmark while it was in operation. While working there Bill did every job involved in its operation including sweeping the floor, dealing with customers, evaluating staff applications, writing advertizing copy, buying merchandise and doing various management functions.
Bill served as Membership Director and then Secretary with the Ottawa Valley Associated Railroaders (OVAR), a model railway club. He served as Newsletter Editor, Vice President and President of the Capital Marine Modelers’ Guild. In the 1980s he joined the Bytown Fire Brigade, for which he has served as Secretary and Editor of The Bytown Trumpet.

He met Will Brooks when Will became a member of Bytown Fire Brigade. In 1997 on a work night at the Bytown Brigade headquarters while Bill and Will were discussing possible directions for the Bytown Fire Brigade they discussed the idea that there should be a national memorial monument in Ottawa for Canadian fallen firefighters. They decided that they would take this on and make it happen. Georges Potvin was not at that meeting that night but Will had been working with Georges and his participation was assured.

Starting from that point without any knowledge of how to accomplish the task they had set Will, Georges and Bill planned, made contacts, asked questions, promoted, researched and developed the objectives and organizational aspects of what is now the Canadian Fallen Firefighters Foundation/Fondation canadienne des pompiers morts en service, for which they signed the incorporation papers on May 28, 2003.
After manning a booth for several days at the Firefighters Combat Challenge and promoting the Canadian Fallen Firefighters Foundation Bill felt the need for a means for people representing the Canadian Fallen Firefighters Foundation to be more visibly recognized. He took the Fallen Firefighter Memorial Pin, which he had a hand in developing, and assisted in incorporating it into a design that was adopted as the Foundation’s logo.
At an early Canadian Fallen Firefighters Foundation board meeting on introducing himself, Bill said that what he had mostly been involved with was making lists. One of the important lists Bill had been making was the list of the known Canadian firefighters who had died in the line of duty. At that time there were about six hundred names on the list. From the time he set up the database for the list until he stepped down from the board of directors Bill kept and maintained the master list of the fallen.

Very soon after the Foundation achieved its charitable status in late 2003 Bill and several other board members became heavily involved with the enormous amount of work that went into creating the first annual Canadian Fallen Firefighters Memorial Ceremony on Parliament Hill.

Bill is proud of what he contributed to the Canadian Fallen Firefighters Foundation and to the creation of what he is sure will be a world class memorial that will measure up to the contributions of the many Canadian firefighters that the monument will honour.