Procession held for retired Hollister Fire Engineer Dave Young
HOLLISTER, CA. - Retired Hollister fire engineer Dave Young passed away last week. He devoted twenty years to serving and protecting the Hollister community. His past co-workers such as retired Capt. Dave Lantis, talked about the amazing impact that Young had on the community.
“The guy was always busy,” Lantis said. “He's probably the best employee the city could ask for. Never sloughing off, constantly working. If he didn't have an assignment, he'd go find something to do.”
Dave Young was a hero in Hollister for many years before he became a full time firefighter at the age of 47. Current Hollister Fire Department Battalion Chief, Rodney Dover, discussed the awards that Young would win year after year.
“Dave was a paid call firefighter before he became a full time firefighter,” Dover said. “And he won the firefighter of the year award like every year for as long as I can remember. And then he became a firefighter, the full time firefighter, and continued to win them every year.”
Young was known for his heroic work on the clock, and he also played a huge role in the Hollister Fire Department holiday toy drive.
“Dave Young was instrumental in getting everybody in the department pitched in,” Dover said. “But he kind of took the lead and organized and made sure all the work was done and everything got finished. Even clean up afterwards, because it did make a mess.”
Not only did he make a big impact on his co-workers, but also his sister-in-law, Patty Lairos, said he made a large impact on his family as well.
“He was just a great brother-in-law,” Lairos said.” All of our husbands got along great. Just easy going, kinda laid-back kind of guy. He was always there when we asked.”
The Hollister Fire Battalion Chief also said that he’s hoping that the department can rename the yearly toy drive in honor of Hollister Hero, Dave Young.
The procession route today started at the funeral home, passed the Hollister Fire Station, and ended at the family’s home.
