Chief Kanterman’s Journal Entry 67
As we come to terms with the passing of “our guy,” most of us can recount our fond memories while in Bobby Halton’s presence. I use “our guy” as he did in his most recent editorial. I met Bobby in 1996 at a command school in Phoenix, Arizona. Actually, I met him at the swim-up bar at our hotel pool, after class the first night. It’s still 115 degrees at 5 p.m. in August in Arizona, so heading to the pool seemed okay. Sipping on adult beverages and chatting fire service, I learned he was the chief of operations in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and in a half an hour knew this was no ordinary guy. In a short time, we started trading jokes and funny stories and then we looked around to find about 20 classmates around us in the pool, drinks in hand and “enjoying the show.” We had an audience. It’s no secret Bobby loved an audience, and for those who know, me, ditto. So we continued to entertain the troops for a few hours and while we talked about heading out for dinner more than once, we never made it. Bobby insisted it was his wedding anniversary and that he needed to head back to his room and his bride, to have dinner with her. (It stands to reason that Mrs. Halton has been voted the most patient wife of all time, Mrs. Kanterman at a close second.) In any event, we headed back to our rooms, hours later, no dinner noting that the trip back to the room seemed a lot longer than the trip to the pool from the room at 5 p.m.
At that time and for a few years, I served on the FDIC Advisory Committee and Conference Staff. Bill Manning asked Bobby to join the Advisory Committee and attend planning meetings throughout the year. My next encounter with him after Phoenix was months later at one of those meetings. Upon seeing each other for the first time, we both said simultaneously, “did you hear the one about…” and both cracked up and then a handshake and a hug. As Bobby took the reins at Fire Engineering about a year later, there arose issues between some of the FDIC volunteer staff and the owners of PennWell. It ended up that many loyal authors and FDIC instructors, myself among them, were unknowingly implicated in the fracas and “blacklisted,” for lack of a better term. We were baffled. A few months later my phone rang. It was Bobby. He was coming to New Jersey on business and wanted to meet me for dinner and tell me the whole story. It’s probably the only time I couldn’t get my jaw to work and eat, as it was hanging the entire time while he told me what had happened, and how an entire team of dedicated people ended up on this list. It was however over and he asked me to come back to Fire Engineering, to continue to write articles and even a book or two. Why tell you this story? Bobby could have sent an e-mail. He could have sent a letter. He could have simply made a 10-minute call. He could have even called all of us together in a group meeting. He chose to call and meet me in person, one on one, to explain the details of the incident and make his ask and did so with the others as well. That’s the fiber of the man. That’s our guy.
The next 25 years got better and a quick night of quips in a pool a long time ago became a long friendship and a professional association second to none. Another famous Bob, actor and comedian Bob Hope’s theme song, was “Thanks for the Memories.” How apropos. As we gather in April of 2023 in Indianapolis, we know FDIC will be different. The best thing we can do is pay tribute, honor, laugh, pray and celebrate together. I think our guy would want it that way. The tribute and honor part would embarrass him I’m sure, but he’d be all in on the rest.
Lord Halifax was quoted as saying: “Service is the rent we pay for a room on earth.” With this thought, my guess is that Bobby is now living in a heavenly structure of mansion proportions. Until we meet again, my friend.
Ronnie K
RON KANTERMAN is the executive inspector of the Bureau of Fire Prevention for the Fire Department of New York. He is a more than four-decade veteran of the fire service and recently retired as chief of the Wilton (CT) Fire Department. He has a B.A. degree in fire administration and two master’s degrees. He’s a contributing author for Fire Engineering, the Fire Engineering Handbook for Firefighter I and II, and the 7th edition of the Fire Chief’s Handbook.
