Excerpts from 25newsnow.com:
It’s been 41 years since Peoria firefighter Vernon “Butch” Gudat died in the line of duty, but Friday, the department and his family members celebrated his legacy.
John Smith worked for the Peoria Fire Department for 29 years. After he retired, he picked up woodwork. His hobby of building tables started when Peoria Fire Chief Shawn Sollberger asked Smith to build a table for the new firehouse, Station 4.
Smith has finished several tables since then, the most recent being a dinner table for Fire Station 10 in honor of Gudat, where he was working when he responded to a fire in downtown Peoria on January 23, 1983. He died that morning in the line of duty.
Both of Gudat’s kids were at the reveal on Friday and say it’s amazing to see the fire department continuing to honor their dad 41 years later.
To this day, Vernon “Butch” Gudat is the last Peoria firefighter to die in the line of duty.
