Gov. Tim Walz has ordered flags to be flown at half-staff on Monday, the day of the funeral for a man who recently became a St. Paul firefighter.
Timothy Bertz, 52, graduated from the St. Paul Fire Department academy on Dec. 17, worked at the training facility on Dec. 19, and had a sudden and major medical event at home on Saturday, Dec. 20, according to the fire department.
Bertz, of Rush City, died at the hospital Monday.
“He was tough not only physically but mentally,” his family wrote in his obituary. “He had an all-in attitude. If he committed to do something, he did with such determination and tenacity.”
After joining the Navy to be a firefighter, “he got sidetracked with what the Navy saw in him and went through the process of becoming a Navy Seal,” the obituary continued.
He’d been a paid-on-call firefighter at the Harris Fire Department in Chisago County, Minn., for the past three years, and later became a duty crew member with the Lino Lakes Fire Department. It was his dream to become a St. Paul firefighter.
“Firefighter Bertz exemplified selflessness and courage in life, including choosing to donate his organs so that others may live, a final testament to his dedication to service,” Walz wrote in a Friday proclamation ordering flags to fly at half-staff at state buildings Monday.
A public vigil is being held tonight at 6 p.m. at the Harris Fire Department, 43525 Gladstone Ave., followed by a time of gathering at 7 p.m.
A memorial service will be held at noon Monday at Maranatha Church, 24799 Forest Blvd. in Forest Lake, with a gathering one hour prior to the service at the church. Private interment will be at Fort Snelling National Cemetery.
His family prefers, in lieu of flowers, memorials to the St. Paul Fire Foundation.
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