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Edward Kocian sits at the helm of the LaFrance in 1951 while his assistant, O.C. Mike, cranks the truck to get it started.
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Joyce Covington on Sept. 9.
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So the funeral procession of longtime Bloomington firefighter Edward E. Kocian stopped to wait for another truck.
But then, the old truck – a 1916 LaFrance fire truck – sputtered, said Joyce Covington, Kocian’s daughter. Then the relic roared to life.
It was only fitting this aged fire truck joined the Kocians for his June 30 funeral procession.
“When he would talk about the truck, he would light up,” said Covington, who lives in Brenham. “It was just sort of pride in ownership for him.”
On Sept. 9, Kocian’s four daughters – Covington, Mary Spoonemore of Seadrift, Linda Krauskopf and Monica Watkins, both of Alvin – donated $6,000 to the Bloomington Volunteer Fire Department.
The recent sale of the LaFrance to a New Hampshire antiques collector provided the funds for the donation.
“It’s an awesome benefit,” said Sheila Kahanek, Bloomington’s interim fire chief.
Kahanek elaborated that the donation would help pay for vehicle and building repairs and maintenance at a time when funds “are hard to come by.”
The LaFrance has a long history in Victoria County. The Victoria Fire Department first purchased the truck in 1917. More than three decades later, the fledgling Bloomington Fire Department bought it for $1.
The LaFrance helped Bloomington fight fires for a few years, and then it was used for fundraisers and other public events.
“Santa Claus always sat on the old truck,” Covington remembers.
Kocian, a founding fire deparment member, was also fire chief for more than 30 years. During that time, he answered emergency calls while working from his business, the Service Garage, which is located across the street from the fire department.
After Kocian’s retirement, the new fire chief sold the LaFrance in 2001 to an Iowa man. The sale crushed Kocian.
“For two to three years after that, I thought my dad was going to have a heart attack,” said Covington. “He was so upset.”
In 2003, Kocian suffered a paralyzing stroke that numbed his ability to communicate. He lived his remaining years in an Alvin nursing home.
Before his death this year, the former fire chief enjoyed the pleasure of learning the LaFrance was once again in Bloomington.
Covington and her sisters fought to retrieve the truck by Christmas 2005.
In 2004, the Iowa man sold the truck to Mark Piekarski, a New Hampshire antiques collector, the daughters learned.
At first, Piekarski didn’t want to sell the truck. Covington’s pleas finally convinced him otherwise.
“It was pretty clear to me after talking to Joyce that it was almost a family heirloom,” Piekarski said.
The two made an agreement: If Covington and her family ever put the truck up for sale, they would sell it back to Piekarski.
The LaFrance will join Piekarski’s three other antique vehicles in October.