Hundreds mourn, honor Wilmington firefighter Ardythe Hope

Esteban Parra, Brittany Horn and Karl Baker, The News Journal

Delaware said goodbye Saturday to Wilmington firefighter Ardythe Hope, who died Dec. 1 from injuries sustained in the Sept. 24 fire that also took the lives of two fellow firefighters.

The casket of Wilmington firefighter Ardythe Hope is positioned at the beginning of her memorial service at the Chase Center on the Riverfront Saturday.

More than 1,000 firefighters, police and community members gathered in the Chase Center on the Riverfront to visit Hope's casket and her family, and attend her funeral.

Some knew the 48-year-old Hope, others didn’t. But all came because they felt it important to say goodbye to the single mother of three, who relished the arduous job of fighting fires in a male-dominated field.

The crowd broke into applause after Fire Chief Anthony S. Goode announced Hope had received the Medal of Honor and a valor commendation. All stood when Goode announced Hope had been promoted to lieutenant. 

"Lt. Hope, Ardy, it's been an honor to serve alongside of you," the chief said. "Rest In Peace my sister."

Vice President Joe Biden could not make it to the service, but in a video recording he offered his condolences to Hope's three children. 

"There's an old saying: All men and women are created equal, then a few become firefighters," Biden said. "Your mom was a firefighter."

Biden explained how their mother always wanted to help, first as a firefighter and then as a nurse. Hope planned to retire in January and pursue a career in nursing. 

"Your mother will live in every single one of you," he said, "until you take your last breath." 

Family members of Wilmington firefighter Ardythe Hope, including brother-in-law Wilmington Police Chief Bobby Cummings, listen as one of her daughters, Ardavia Lee, recounts stories of the fallen firefighter during her memorial at the Chase Center on the Riverfront Saturday.

Following Biden's remarks, Hope's family was presented with an American flag that was flown over the U.S. Capitol on Dec. 1, the day she died.

Several members of Hope's family told stories about growing up with her and what she meant to them. All addressed the void that now exists in their hearts. 

"I miss my mom," said Ardavia Lee, Hope's youngest of three daughters. "I miss her smile. I miss making her coffee every single day. I miss going into her room and cuddling up to her to watch a movie.

"I just miss my mother."

Hope's sister, Simone Cummings, had a special thank you for firefighter Brad Speakman's father, who she said would check up on her at the hospital. If it wasn't for him, Cummings said she would not have made it. 

Speakman was injured in the fire and also treated at Crozer. He was released last month and attended Hope's services Saturday. Multiple speakers mentioned his service and he drew heartfelt applause.

Saturday's funeral follows Hope's 68-day battle at Crozer-Chester Medical Center, in Upland, Pennsylvania, where she was hospitalized for her injuries following the blaze. She suffered burns on more than 70 percent of her body and was in critical condition the entirety of her time at the hospital. 

The Canby Park fire marks Wilmington's deadliest blaze in the department's history, killing three firefighters and injuring others.

Capt. Christopher Leach and Lt. Jerry Fickes died the morning of the Sept. 24 arson.

William and Tamara Shirley were among more than 1,000 people standing in line to attend the services Saturday morning. They reflected on the frequent dangers firefighters confront.

Running into a burning building takes a "very special kind of person," William Shirley said.

"And to do it for someone you don't even know," Tamara Shirley added.

Hope's casket arrived on Fire Engine 5 with a police escort to the Chase Center, where it was greeted by saluting first responders.

Pipe and drum bands played as her casket, draped with an American flag, was removed from the fire engine and taken into the center. Delaware Gov. Jack Markell and the state's congressional delegation – Gov.-elect and Rep. John Carney, and Sens. Chris Coons and Tom Carper – all spoke at the funeral service, as did Wilmington Mayor Dennis P. Williams.

Music at the service was moving as a group of talented singers belted out songs that honored Hope and connected with the crowd. Leonette Davis-Collins sang Take Me to the King; Amani Mason performed the National Anthem and "I Won't Complain;"  Sharrieff Herrings performed "The Battle Is Not Yours;" and Anthony Johnson concluded the live performances with "It's So Hard To Say Goodbye." 

La Mar Gunn, who unsuccessfully ran for lieutenant governor, drove overnight from Harrisonburg, Virginia, to attend Hope's services. Her valor and that of other firefighters has motivated him to become involved with first responders, he said. 

"I'm committed to helping fire services and all of our first responders in Delaware," Gunn said.

David Lee, father of Hope's two youngest daughters, was also at the service. Lee said he met Hope in high school when he ran track for William Penn and she for Howard. Together, they later had two daughters, Alexis and Ardavia. As he stood at the Chase Center next to an easel displaying a photo of Hope, he described how she was the strict parent and he was the "softy," he said.

"Even though we weren't together, when it came to the kids, we were always on the same page," he said. "That's what I always liked about her."

Their now teenage daughters excelled in school during the past three months despite the hardship they faced, he said

"I'm surprised they're holding up as well as they are. But you know they get that from their mom," he said.

Also touched by Hope was Stacy Gautier and her family from the Newark area.

"Our daughters are best friends," Gautier said.

She believes the months Hope spent clinging to life at the Crozer-Chester Medical Center were because of her family.

"I think she fought for a very long time for the girls," Gautier said. 

Hope is the first female Wilmington firefighter to die in the line of duty.

Female firefighters make up nearly 4 percent of Wilmington's career force. Nationally, women make up 7 percent of career and volunteer firefighters, according to the National Fire Protection Association. Most of those female firefighters are in volunteer companies. 

"The Wilmington Fire Department, surprisingly compared to a lot of other departments, we've typically had a pretty good number of women firefighters and it's still nowhere near what we would like to see," said Goode. 

 

Wilmington has five female firefighters, including a battalion chief and an inspector with the city's Fire Marshal's Office. 

"It's something that this department can be proud of, the efforts that they've made," Goode said.

A diverse department strengthens what the fire department can do in a community, the chief said. For example, Goode said female firefighters may have an easier time communicating with a woman in distress.

"We respond to so many different types of emergencies," he said. "We're not just going to fires, so we need to have that ability to address all those emergencies." 

Women entering today’s fire service rarely look at themselves as a female in a male-dominated profession, said Angela Hughes, a captain in the Baltimore County Fire Department and president of the International Association of Women in Fire & Emergency Services.

"The women who decide to embark on the journey to be a firefighter are driven, like their male counterparts, to the service of others and understand the risks associated with being a firefighter," Hughes said. "The process to become a firefighter is physically challenging and many women work very hard at ensuring that they can pass and perform the job. They focus on their athleticism and overcoming their physical attributes through training and technique to ensure that they are well prepared."

Women firefighters, while small in numbers compared to male firefighters, have been through the same hiring processes as all other candidates and are capable of performing the requirements of their profession, Hughes said. They adapt to station life and often accept the challenges of being the only women. In instances where there is unfair or unequal treatment a women firefighter will stand up for herself – usually after the situations can no longer be tolerated or are unchanging.

Women firefighters find ways to balance family life and work life through support networks and members within the fire service "brotherhood," she added. 

"Ardythe Hope's line of duty death is no less than any firefighter who has given their lives protecting and ensuring the safety of the communities they serve," Hughes said. "Women firefighters lost a true example in Firefighter Hope for women considering the fire service as a profession. Her coworkers, her department and her community loved her."

Wilmington Senior Firefighter Martina "Marti" Sudler was one of those firefighters who benefited from Hope’s examples.

Hope approached Sudler on her first day on the job, Sept. 16, 2002. The two women, later known as the Ardy and Marti Show, had plenty in common – they were both single mothers working in a male-dominated field – and they loved what they were doing.

"I got looking at Ardy like my big sister," Sudler said. "It was very interesting to see how she handled herself with all the guys at work. It was no filter."

In the fire service, Sudler said it's important to find a mentor so she was thankful for all that Hope did for her those early years.

"In watching how she was able to handle everybody, it gave me that strength," said Sudler, who was one of Hope's pallbearer. 

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Dennis Godek, president of the New Castle County Fire Chiefs' Association, said he wasn't aware of any women firefighters when he started volunteering in the 1970s. 

But women soon began joining the fire service. Godek recalls being a junior adviser at the Elsmere Fire Company when the first female applied to be a member.

"We were in support," Godek said. "No problem with her joining."

She did join and made contributions, he said. Some male members did not approve of women joining the ranks, but mostly because it had never happened before. 

"As time went on, it became more and more normal," Godek said. "Obviously some accepted it better than others."

What was once a dramatic culture change is now largely accepted.

"I have to be honest," Godek added, "anybody who is anti-female in the fire service is doing so behind a cloak." 

Hope's colleagues say she was clearly part of the brotherhood. 

Wilmington firefighter Ardythe Hope died Dec. 1 from injuries sustained in rowhome blaze in September.

Wilmington Battalion Chief Timothy Perkins, who graduated in the same academy class as did Hope, remembers her as never backing away from a prank. Whether it was messing with someone's bed or putting water in a fellow firefighter's boots, if someone pulled a prank on her, Perkins said, Hope relished in returning the favor.

"She gave it as well as she took it," he said with a chuckle. "She was a regular guy."

Retired Battalion Chief Victor Newman, who trained Hope when she went through the academy in 1993, remembers the fallen firefighter pushing to hit high standards.

"She was an athlete," Newman said. "She carried the dummies that we had, she did everything that was required for the agility testing that we put them through the time."

Before joining the Wilmington Fire Department, Hope was among Delaware’s elite group of track and cross country runners in high school.

She was a state indoor track champion in both the 800- and 1,600-meter runs for Delcastle Technical High School in 1983. She also was an outdoors track champion, anchoring Howard High School’s Division I state championship 4 X 400-meter relay in 1984. And she won a Division I state championship in the 4 x 200-meter relay in 1986.

Hope became the state 800-meter champion in Division I.

In 1983, she was named first-team All-State in cross country and first-team All-State in outdoor track, both as a Howard sophomore. She would repeat as first-team All-State in outdoor track in 1986.

"She could do everything the men could do," Newman said. "We didn't expect her to lift 300 or 400 pounds by herself, but she worked in conjunction with people as a team. She was a good team player."

That's a critically important attribute for a firefighter.

"You always work together," Newman said. "She was good at understanding this."

Hope's competitiveness was shaped before joining the fire department, Wilmington Battalion Chief James Jobes said, from her family and her time in the military.

"A lot of her traits and understanding of things came from her father, her mother, her siblings or the surroundings of Delaware," said Jobes, who also went through the academy with Hope. "She came into a regimented-type of atmosphere. Did she have some early adjustments to make? Sure she did, but did she adjust? Yes she did.

"She was here for over 20 years."

Jobes was not only Hope's colleague, he was her neighbor. Their children played together. Jobes is godfather to one of Hope's daughters.

"She was very involved with her daughters' life," he said. "Everything she did revolved in making sure they were educated and learned how to enjoy life."

Jobes was the chief officer assigned to inform Hope's family the September morning she was injured.

Hope, along with Leach and Speakman, were in the burning house at 1927 Lakeview Road when the floor they worked on gave way. Attempting to perform a rescue, Fickes entered the house.

That's when a second-floor collapse occurred.

Leach and Fickes died that morning.

Wilmington firefighters Jerry Fickes (left) and Christopher Leach are shown in a composite image. They were killed Sept. 24 fighting a fire in Canby Park.

Hope and Speakman were rushed to Crozer. Speakman was released from the hospital last month. 

"Knocking on the door at 4 in the morning wasn't a pleasant experience for me," Jobes said of notifying Hope's family. 

"Some days you're walking in the fog, like one of those stories you don't believe," he said. "I find myself driving and thinking about something hilarious she would say or do and I start laughing. 

"Or I can find myself tearing up knowing that she'll never be here again."