HENNIKER — Hopkinton Fire Chief Richard “Rick” Schaefer was remembered at his funeral Saturday as a caring man with a strong desire to serve and an endearing sense of humor.

Hundreds of firefighters gathered in Henniker to honor Schaefer, 52, and many close friends and family shared memories.

Lance Claggett, chaplain of the Hopkinton Fire Department, led the service at St. Theresa's Church and said it had been an “impossibly difficult week” for the family, made better only through the love, support and encouragement of the community.

“It's not surprising,” Claggett said, “but it's still overwhelming.”

Claggett said the death of the chief, who suffered a heart attack while on duty last Sunday, was a shock, but urged those who turned out for his funeral to take a lesson from Schaefer's life.

“No one should ever deny the impact one man can make,” Claggett said.

For Bryan Clark, Schaefer started out as a friend and became family. Clark said he and Schaefer went to high school in Hopkinton together, worked at the Exxon station in Contoocook together, and eventually married two women from the same family within a few months of each other.

Family was vitally important to Schaefer, Clark said, and everyone in the family celebrated decades of Christmases and birthdays, the passage of important moments, “not because we had to, but because we wanted to.”

Clark said the one thing that made Schaefer special was the way he cared for others.

“Rick always treated people the way he wanted to be treated,” said Clark. “And that's why so many people are here today.”

Jessamyn Delude, Schaefer's daughter, who served with her father on the fire department, relied on her aunt Diane, Schaefer's sister, to read her thoughts to the gathering.

“I am so lucky to be able to call him my dad,” said Delude. “I always felt such honor and pride when people asked me if I was Rick Schaefer's daughter.”

Delude, one of Schaefer's three grown children, said her father's desire to do things because they were the right things to do, not because he expected recognition, inspired Delude to follow him into the fire service. She said she felt honored to have been able to work beside her dad.

Schaefer's dedication to the fire department dated back to 1979. He worked his way up through the ranks and eventually was able to convince town officials they needed a full-time fire chief. He took on that role in 1999.

Schaefer's work ethic was second to none, said Capt. Nate Martel.

“We always tried to respond to calls before he did,” Martel said, “but we never succeeded.”

Schaefer was a chief who led from the front. He would never ask his firefighters to do anything he wouldn't do himself, and even as chief, he washed equipment and rolled hoses. But he was also a bit of a prankster, said Martel, and everyone on the department knew when Schaefer uttered the words, “Hey, I have an idea,” they were in trouble.

Once, Martel said, Schaefer noticed a police cruiser parked outside a local diner. The chief announced that he had “an idea,” and next thing the firefighters knew, they were sliding a jack under the police cruiser and raising up the car just enough so that when Officer Bill Simpson got in and tried to back out of the parking space, he couldn't go anywhere.

“Bill got out of the car to see what was wrong, and there he found four grown men peaking out from around the back of the cruiser,” Martel said.

To Schaefer's family — his wife, Kathy, his daughter, Jess, and his sons Rick and Josh — Martel expressed his gratitude.

“Thank you for sharing him with us,” he said.

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Nancy Bean Foster may be reached at nfoster@newstote.com.