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Fallen firefighter Steve Ackerman: Honor in every area of life

Katie Nelson

One week after Valley Springs resident Steven Ackerman, 38, was killed while fighting a deadly fire in Brandon, hundreds of relatives, friends, co-workers and firefighters from all over South Dakota and other states filed into the gym at Brandon Valley High School for his funeral.

Row after row of red chairs filled the room and one by one almost all were taken. Officers decked out in uniform stood on either side of Ackerman's casket, which was draped with a large American flag.

As pallbearers ferried the casket to the front of the gym, a bagpipe band of firefighters from all different fire units played soulfully behind them.

Yet in spite of the solemnity and rigmarole displayed in honor of the fallen firefighter, his memorial service made it clear that he was not just a firefighter. The way Steve Ackerman lived and worked was a testament to the kind of person he was.

"When somebody attempted to praise Steve for his public service, he would have been the first to tell you he was just an ordinary guy trying to help out," said Reverend Norm Bouwens, one of the ministers presiding over the funeral. "There is nothing that exemplifies Steve as a person more than that."

Born only 20 minutes away from Valley Springs in Luverne, Minnesota, Steve Ackerman spent most of his life in South Dakota surrounded by the community that came to bid him farewell. He graduated in 1995 from the high school which on Sunday held his funeral.

The church where he was baptized at a young age is the same pastored by Norm Bouwens. When he was not volunteering as a firefighter, he worked at the family business, Ackerman Brothers Heating and Cooling.

Darla Shawd, who has lived in Valley Springs for more than 20 years, had known Ackerman for years, as he had often come to work on her furnace. She remembers him as the type of person who was deeply connected to his town.

"He was very involved in community stuff so you'd always see him around. He was at every event, every little thing that went on," Shawd said. "We just came to show our support. He was a good guy and [came from] a good family."

On the day of Ackerman's funeral, the common area at Brandon Valley High School held several photo collages featuring bits and pieces from his life, pictures of him as a child, with his fiancee, with his friends, with his stepchildren. He meant something different to each of them, but to all he was a firefighter whose sense of duty and honor permeated every part of his life.

"When that pager went off Sunday night, Steve didn't waver. He simply replied, 'Send me,'" Bouwens told the mourners at the service. "Today's outpouring of grief and admiration is fitting to a man who dedicated his life to his family, protecting and serving the community. A true local hero in every sense of the word."

The men and women who drove hours upon hours to pay their respects to a fellow firefighter showed just how much of a hero Ackerman was. Hundreds of them filed in as onlookers stood in silent admiration. Just when it seems the last of them have come through, more appear in the doorway. All came to give tribute to a man most of them had probably never met. But their presence is evidence of Steve's legacy as someone who cared deeply about people.

At the end of the service, Sioux Falls fire chaplain Terry Fraker led the attendees in prayer as a firefighter rang a silver bell nine times in honor of Ackerman. The gesture is meant to symbolize that a firefighter has completed his task and is relieved of the duties he has taken on, a fitting final goodbye to a man whose life showcased his commitment to his community.

"Let us hold Steve up as an example of how we should live our own lives, with valor, courage, but also with compassion, sacrifice and love," Bouwens said to the crowd. "Let us make a resolution, a commitment to ourselves and to one another. Let us commit to being worthy of the courage and bravery that Steve showed. ... We must do the best that we can with the tools that we have."