Wayne Doolittle, 1940-2022: Jacksonville firefighter founded association and recovered memorial bell

The 3,000-pound bell that shines at the Fallen Firefighter Memorial at Fire Station 1 is tolled every year to remember those who have fallen in the line of duty.

Now the man who found that bell after it had been lost for decades has died following decades of service to the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department, its former volunteer division and its retirees.

Retired Engineer Wayne Doolittle, 81, died on June 10, no cause publicly released by his family. Fire Chief Keith Powers said he was "devastated" to learn of Mr. Doolittle's death.

"Wayne put his heart and soul into JFRD and even in retirement he worked 24/7 to help make better the department he so dearly loved," Powers said. "He truly left JFRD better than he found it! I am really going to miss my friend and have no idea how we will ever fill the void he leaves behind!”

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His son, Brian Doolittle, also a retired Jacksonville firefighter. said the family is still emotional about the death but has one big memory.

"He was always there for the family, whether it was his own or the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department," he said. "And the fire department was his second family."

A firefighter's life

Mr. Doolittle grew up on the city's Eastside. His father, Charles V. Doolittle, was a firefighter with the Arlington Volunteer Fire Department and also worked on Engine 9. So the son grew up around fire stations, an early family photo showing him ringing a bell on an antique fire engine.

After attending North Shore Elementary School, he graduated in 1959 from Terry Parker High School and joined the U.S. Coast Guard two years later.

In July 1962 he married his wife, Fay, and joined the Jacksonville fire department a year after that, his son said. His accomplishments there and beyond were laid out in an official commendation in 2019 from the City Council "for his lifetime of service and contributions to the city."

Mr. Doolittle's assignment to Rescue 9 made him one of the first firefighters to participate in the department’s 1967 introduction of the rescue division, the resolution said. He rose to the rank of engineer and was selected Firefighter of the Year in 1987. His last combat assignment was on Ladder 44.

Mayor Ed Austin appointed him as the department's volunteer coordinator from 1991 to 1995, and he organized dozens of projects and special events. Mr. Doolittle produced the fire department yearbook, wrote its annual reports and served as its photographer. He also initiated the firefighter retirees’ luncheon.

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Doolittle also played a major role in the establishment of the Jacksonville Fire Museum in Fire Station 3.

Opened in the late 1800s on East Bay Street, the station was rebuilt using bricks collected from the remains of downtown buildings destroyed in the Great Fire of 1901. Moved to 13 Catherine St., it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1972. Doolittle got the station designated as the Jacksonville Fire Museum in 1982. It was moved in 1994 to Metropolitan Park, then again in late March to its current site at 620 E. Bay St.

Memorials for the fallen

Mr. Doolittle is also involved in the establishment of the Fallen Firefighter Memorial at Fire Station 1, because of his father.

Charles Doolittle told his son how important it was to have a memorial to honor the fallen. After his father’s death, Mr. Doolittle began planning that memorial, which was dedicated June 29, 1987, when only 14 names were on it. And he even found the bell.

That bell once topped an early 20th-century City Hall, then was lost at some point until Mr. Doolittle discovered it abandoned in 1986 in a city storage room. That is when his father suggested its use in a firefighter memorial, once at Fire Station 3, now at Fire Station 1.

“He said, ’You know son, you should look into maybe having a service for firefighters killed in the line of duty.’ Then I just happened to stumble upon this bell,” Wayne Doolittle remembered at 2019's Fallen Firefighter Memorial. “... This is quite an honor to participate in this every year. I haven’t missed one yet.”

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After Mr. Doolittle's retirement in 1995 from active service, he began working to establish Jacksonville's Retired Firefighters Association. Established in 2007, he also served as its president for many years.

The City Council resolution additionally recognizes Mr. Doolittle's many other activities after retirement.

"Mr. Doolittle has remained active after retiring from JFRD by coordinating community appearances of the oldest living firefighters, operating an antique fire engine in local parades," the resolution said. "... Mr. Doolittle has always said 'yes' when somebody asks for help and he has always gone beyond the call of duty to improve the lives of those in the firefighter community and within the city as a whole."

In addition to his son Brian, Mr. Doolittle is survived by son Brad. His wife died two years ago.

No funeral services have been announced yet, with the family stating that a celebration of life memorial will be at a later date.

dscanlan@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4549

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Wayne Doolittle helped found Jacksonville Fire Museum, helped retirees