FAYETTE – Walter Hewett was remembered Thursday for his smile, quiet sense of humor and great integrity. Hewett watched over the children of Fayette as a bus driver for 37 years and over the townspeople as a firefighter for more than four decades.
Hewett, 70, died Monday from complications of heart surgery at a Portland hospital, his wife, Jean Hewett, said Thursday.
They were to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary on Sunday.
Hewett, a founder of the Fayette Fire Department, was responsible for one of the town’s first firetrucks, said Fire Chief Ron McLallen on Thursday.
During his tenure as both fire chief and the owner of the Fayette Country Store, Hewett had a “red phone” at his house, which people called to report a fire, and a siren on top of the store to alert firefighters. He also had a base radio in his dining room and coordinated Fayette’s emergency response for years.
“He was one of the early fire chiefs,” McLallen said. “Walter was very dedicated to the community of Fayette.”
Engine No. 33 will lead the funeral procession into town Saturday to the Fayette Mills Cemetery. The procession also will include a school bus with other drivers on it.
The Fayette town report is dedicated to Hewett this year for his countless hours of public service to the community. The dedication was to be a surprise. The report is expected to be available at the town office today, Town Manager Mark Robinson said Thursday.
The dedication in part reads, “A part of Walter’s history of putting service above self for the people of Fayette began with his service to the Fayette Fire Department. Walter served from 1958 to 2004 for the department and the fire chief for 14 years and is now an honorary member of the Fayette Fire Department. … Walter to you, we the people, of the town of Fayette owe a great deal of thanks.”
“I think he was always a gentleman and always good to the children of Fayette,” School Board member Elaine Wilcox said Thursday.
Hewett drove a bus for SAD 36 and then for the Fayette School Department after the town withdrew from SAD 36. Until he became sick this school year, his route included driving Fayette students to Jay and Livermore Falls middle and high schools.
“He was just an excellent individual,” Fayette Superintendent Briane Coulthard said Thursday.
Hewett was a “big help to me,” Coulthard said, attending the school bus meetings and the training for school bus drivers, and taking the information back to share with other drivers.
He acted as an unofficial transportation supervisor, checking the buses to make sure they were in good running order, and helping set up the bus runs each summer before the new school year. He was not reimbursed for that work, Coulthard said.
He’ll be remembered for his smile, quiet sense of humor, high integrity and pride in whatever he did, he said.
“His whole composure would give you that,” he said.
“He was always there, willing to help somebody,” school education technician Marjie Bruen said Thursday.
The schoolchildren are making cards for the family, Bruen said.
Bruen said they were also in the process of making a “giant school bus” on white paper so that people can sign it at the reception at the school Saturday after the funeral service.
Comments are no longer available on this story