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Sharkevich Sr., age 66, was a lifelong firefighter. He served with the Hartford Fire Department for 25 years and the Wethersfield Volunteer Fire Department for 22 years.
He was working for the latter on Tuesday, Oct. 22, when an ATV he was on toppled over and landed on him in Meriden as he and others tried to battle back the flames that have now burned more than 130 acres of Lamentation Mountain in Berlin.
His sister Karen Letizio said firefighting wasn't Sharkey's job during her eulogy. It was his calling — a sense of duty he felt compelled to fulfill.
It was calling many of the Sharkeviches felt.
Gary Sharkevich, Robert Sr.'s nephew, told those gathered at the funeral that his uncle was the life of the firehouse. Tough, smart, funny, hardworking, he was a man other men aspired to be.
"Although he was the biggest jokester and a master of one-liners," Gary said. "Uncle Rob also had a heart of gold."
And Robert Sharkevich could be a serious man. His nephew remembered a sadly prescient discussion they had.
“'You know Gary, this line of service is rewarding, but there is always the possibility that one day you don’t return home to your family,'” he recalled his uncle saying.
"I so aspire to be even half of the firefighter he was," Gary said, holding back tears.
Robert Sharkevich Jr. followed in his dad's footsteps and joined the Wethersfield Volunteer Fire Department.
The brush fire that began over a week ago has kept area firefighters rotating in and out of the blaze and glued to their radios in case more help was needed. So, his family was listening when the announcement came that Robert was in trouble. Unfortunately, help could not reach him in time because of heavy smoke and rough terrain.
Robert Sharkevich also worked as a maintainer and carpenter and carpenter for the Wethersfield Public School District. Students and staff were given Monday, Oct. 28, off in case they wanted to attend the funeral or just have time to process their grief, Schools Superintendent Michael T. Emmett said.
Emmett tried to sum up what Sharkevich meant to the community in an email announcing the firefighter's death last week.
"'Sharky' was a parent, grandparent, and Physical Services Carpenter in the school district," He wrote. "Words cannot express the magnitude of this loss."
Firefighters across Connecticut new Sharkey. He was big, brash, with a halting laugh. He loved to cook big meals at the firehouse for his brothers and sisters in arms. But he carried a softer side — one that he would show to firefighters in need. A gentle hand on the shoulder and a quiet, "Are you OK? What can I do?" Or just checking in on those he cared about.
Running toward danger while others ran the other way made him a firefighter. The rest — always being there for the people who needed him — made him a hero.
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