Fire District 1 and Mountlake Terrace FD lose a family member

Published 12:24 pm Thursday, February 21, 2008

Longtime Fire District 1 firefighter and Mill Creek resident Robert “Bob” Morehouse was helpful, proud, and a mentor. Family, friends, and colleagues remember him as knowledgeable and opinionated. He loved animals, especially horses. He had a way of playing with words, giving ordinary objects unusual names. He was tall, blue-eyed and broad-shouldered. “I can’t tell you how many people have said to me, ‘Bob’s the one who taught me to drive the fire engine,’” said Snohomish County Fire District 1 Captain Conrad Clementson.

Born Oct. 25, 1945, Morehouse died of pancreatic cancer Sept. 9, 2002.

His service was held Sept. 22 at Mariner High School.

A full honor guard, bagpipes, and firefighters from districts spanning Snohomish to Mountlake Terrace lent distinction to the ceremony.

Carol Lindbloom-Morehouse said many people will remember her husband because he was selfless with his time.

“He helped rich, poor, whoever. He never expected return or repayment, and would never ask for help. He was very independent,” she said.

He’d usually overextend himself.

“Paint a house? Put in a driveway? Chop wood? Fall three trees? He was there. He didn’t like to let people down.”

Morehouse’s work as a firefighter and Hazardous Materials technician brought him a sense of pride and an extended sense of family — his family was the fire department, she said.

Morehouse served for 30 years as a volunteer firefighter for Snohomish County Fire District 4 and 27 years as a career firefighter with District 1 in unincorporated south Snohomish County.

From the day Morehouse was diagnosed with inoperable cancer, support began pouring in from family, friends and colleagues.

“I got home and found 68 phone calls on my machine,” said Lindbloom-Morehouse.

Suddenly, a man not used to asking for help had to let go of his tenacious independence. He had only three months to live.

From then on, neighbors pitched in to take care of the house.

If it wasn’t a neighbor, it was firefighters taking care of their own.

District 1 Fire Chief Jack McArthur’s daughters, Kristin and Kelly, cared for the Morehouse’s six horses and cleaned the stalls.

District 1 fellow firefighter Jeff Larmore spearheaded the effort to put a new roof on Morehouse’s home.

“Bob didn’t want to ask for help,” Larmore said. But pressed to be direct about the family’s immediate needs, “he finally said he needed a new roof.”

Larmore joined forces with Clementson, also from District 1. Both men are general contractors as well as firefighters.

Forty crew members showed up to lay the roof. Nearly all the supplies were donated, so the new roof cost the Morehouse family only $900, Larmore said.

The help Morehouse was used to giving others was coming back to him.

Clementson believes Morehouse deserved every bit of that help.

Morehouse took pride in his work, something not always seen these days, and he enjoyed teaching others. “Bob was a father figure in the [fire] department,” Clementson said.

It’s been said Morehouse’s expertise with the fire engine was nearly unmatched, and he knew the pumps from the inside out. These skills are critical.

Morehouse’s son Mike was one of Morehouse’s earliest trainees.

“Dad made everybody back the engine up before they could go forward. My dad wanted us to know how to drive the engine properly. Anybody can get behind a rig and pull it forward. What’s harder is to back into somebody’s 5-acre plot, or a long, narrow driveway,” Morehouse said.

District 4 Lieutenant Dean Davis also remembers coming in as a young recruit.

“I got a few lectures from Bobby. His main goal was to make us pump operators, not just lever-pullers. He wanted us to know the pump’s guts, and how it works. That was Bobby’s thinking.”

“He was an inspiration to younger firemen like myself, people who are now senior firefighters.”

District 1 firefighter Gene Smith admired Morehouse’s steady nature and said “nothing got him amped.”

District 1 Captain Deb Talley said being female in a male-dominated culture like the fire department means having to work harder to receive the same recognition. She said Morehouse eased some of that pressure for her.

“Bob had a lot to do with my staying power in the service,” she said.

Morehouse went from being a product of his time and culture to being someone who recognized that some women can do the job. “He saw I was a leader,” said Talley. “It’s a huge honor to be a pall bearer. He was one of my closest allies and friends.”

District 1 Captain Russ Hobbs said, “Bob mellowed out over time. If he liked you, he’d share everything.”

District 4 Chief Ron Simmons believes one of the traits people will miss the most is the way Morehouse used language. He created his own vocabulary and colleagues have dubbed it various names: “Bobonics,” “Bobisms,” and “Morehousian Theory.”

A wrench could become a “Whatchyamahoosit,” Simmons said.

Mike Morehouse recalls his dad calling arms “wings,” hands “paws,” and throats “goozlepipes.”

Mike wishes his dad could have met the family’s first grandchild, due in December.

Morehouse would have bragged about his grandchild.

“Bob loved his children [son Mike and daughter Karen] and spoke highly of them,” said District 4 firefighter Barbara Berg. Family friend Jan Whitman said Morehouse was continually gracious despite the physical discomforts he endured in his final days.

Lisa Weatherwax is a freelance writer who resides in Bothell.