BRUNSWICK

Renee Bernard remembers family meals when she was growing up in Brunswick, and how they were often interrupted.

“We’d sit down to eat dinner, and the Plectron would go off,” said Renee, referring to the emergency radio receiver used by those in public safety. “My father would push his plate back and say, ‘Time to go to work.’”

That was life for her father, Robert E. Bernard Sr., who served his country and his community for decades, in the armed forces, and for 20 years in the Brunswick Fire Department.

A funeral for Bernard, who died earlier this year at his home in Florida, will take place at 10 a.m. Saturday at St. John’s Catholic Church in Brunswick. An honor guard from Brunswick Fire Department is expected to attend.

“There were some close calls, I remember that as a kid,” Renee said. “He fell through a floor once. I remember him being injured.”

According to his Jan. 29 obituary in The Times Record, Robert Bernard was born in New Bedford, Mass., in 1939, one of eight children. He grew up in Fall River, Mass., and quit high school when his father died in order to work and support the family.

It wouldn’t be until 1969 that he earned his high school equivalency certificate.

Bernard was a member of the Naval Reserves and served on a mine sweeper. He then joined the Army, serving from 1958 to 1962, including a 13-month stint in South Korea, after which he rejoined the Naval Reserves.

Bernard and his wife, Jeanne T. Parent, moved to Brunswick in 1963, where they lived and worked for the next 47 years.

His tenure with Brunswick Fire Department began in 1965. He was promoted to lieutenant in in 1976, and became captain the following year. In 1979, he was made deputy fire chief by then-Chief Kenneth E. Orr.

Bernard founded and was the first president of Local 1718 of the International Association of Fire Fighters.

“He helped forge the first union in the fire department,” said Brunswick Fire Chief Ken Brillant.

According to Brillant, Bernard and firefighters like him helped build the legacy of the Brunswick Fire Department.

“I tell new members, someday you will be the retired old timer, and you’ll want to be remembered for paving the way,” Brillant said. “If it weren’t for what they did, you wouldn’t have what you have today.”

Bernard also served his community by being Scout Master of Troop No. 38 and also served in the Coast Guard Reserves before joining the Maine National Guard, for which he served with for 26 years.

Bernard’s tradition of service is a family affair.

His son, Robert, serves as a fighter/paramedic in Ogunquit. Renee, who lives in Bowdoin, has been in law enforcement for 22 years, and currently serves as Lisbon’s school resource officer.

“We’ve certainly got the bug,” said Renee.

Another daughter, Robin, is a family physician.

After retiring from Brunswick Fire, Bernard worked at Bath Iron Works as a fire guard and later as a security guard until his retirement in 2011.

Bernard died of cancer Jan. 15, three days short of his 75th birthday in Florida, where he retired.

Renee described her father as “a jokester, a goofball.”

“He didn’t often get mad,” she said. “He was very laidback and easy going.”

Bernard will be interred in the Maine Veterans Cemetery in Augusta.

jswinconeck@timesrecord.com