Longtime Midway firefighter Ron Ewer remembered

A tribute was held by the Solebury Board of Supervisors on Tuesday for Ron Ewer, a firefighter for 59 years with the Midway Fire Company.

His wife, Judy, was in attendance as he was lauded in a letter read by Chair Mark Baum Baicker from former township Supervisor Jim Searing.

“On Friday, March 10, following a 200-year-old tradition of bestowing honor and respect to fallen firefighters, Midway Fire Company tolled the fire bell the 5-5-5- signal as a ‘last call’ for Ron Ewer. Ron passes March 2, 2023,” Searing stated.

Ewer, of Lahaska, joined as a junior firefighter in 1964 and after retiring served as a trustee and a member of the Midway Executive Board, he added.

“Ron was one of the best pump operators in the county. This is one of the most critical capabilities for fire companies in rural areas like ours. His colleagues said that ‘Ron could get water out of a rock.’

“Sometimes at the last (Board of Supervisors) meeting of the year, Ron would sum everything up in a poem, complete with pithy comments about each supervisor.”

Ewer suffered a massive heart attack six years ago after responding to a crash scene, was brought back to consciousness via CPR and a defibrillator and underwent quadruple bypass surgery, Searing recalled.

But there was more to Ewer than firefighting.

“Ron, known as ‘Pops’ to his children, loved his family, his firefighters, Solebury, German shepherds, Golden retrievers, his family time at Brigantine Beach, the Stooges, and the Beach Boys. He met Mike Love of the Beach Boys backstage at a concert at the shore and they would make time to see each other at some of the 200 concerts Ron and Judy attended.

“One of the wonderful features of living in a community like Solebury is that any one of us can make a difference. Ron’s dedication... to so many made a meaningful difference to many families and our community’s quality of life.

“We mourn his passing, and deeply appreciate his service to Solebury and our neighboring communities.”

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