Fire fighter Keion Boone remembered with memorial plaque at Engine 44
(WJBK) - Today the Detroit Firefighters Association unveiled the last alarm plaque in honor of Keion Boone. He was only 39, but we're old this selfless man stayed positive until the very end.
Boone's family and Detroit fire brothers and sisters gathered at Engine 44 where he worked, risking his life every day to protect the people of Detroit. But that is not how he died.
Sadly a few months ago, the 15-year veteran of DFD was diagnosed with an aggressive cancer in his lungs that quickly spread to his throat and brain. Those close to him say you would have never known it.
"He even kept it from me. I didn't even know how sick he was. I would ask him all the time. I think he just wanted to be strong for me too, just everybody, that was the type of person he was," said his wife, Valencia Boone.
"I walked in to visit him and I was always so very, very concerned about his condition and his recovery. I know that he was concerned but he never showed it. All he wanted to do was say thank you and that commissioner I'm coming back, I'm coming back to be with my brother sisters," said Detroit Fire Commissioner Eric Jones.
But sadly Keion never did. Since his death, his fire fighting family has rallied around his wife and children. On Thursday, about 80 members of the fire department worked on their house fixing the roof, windows and gutters.
"We don't forget our brothers and sisters. We don't make a lot of money and we know that we have to take care of his mother and her children, and we will be there for him," said Michael Nevin, president of the Detroit Firefighters Association.
On Friday, the Detroit Fire Fighters Association unveiled the last alarm plaque in memory of Boone that will hang on the wall of Engine 44...
"Even when Keion was sick, I just felt your love and support. And then when he passed, it was even greater," Valencia said to the group.
His wife, 13-year-old daughter and 9-year-old son were brought to tears as many gathered to remember and celebrate the dedicated, determined and compassionate man Boone was.
"It makes me feel that everybody cares about him. He was loved. Everybody was like family to him, even strangers they would appreciate his help," his son said.