Passing of President/Deputy Chief Jim Callahan
 
March 21, 2021
 

President and Deputy Chief Jim Callahan lost his long battle with kidney cancer on Saturday, March 20th at the Hospice Center at Bryn Mawr Hospital. Jim was dedicated to his family and leaves behind three sons.

Jim joined the former Oaks Volunteer Fire Company, now the Black Rock Volunteer Fire Company, to be the Company Photographer but was quickly motivated to become a Certified Firefighter II and added other certifications as he quickly moved up the ranks to the position of Deputy Chief, a position he held until his passing.

Training was one of Jim’s passions. He believed the harder and more realistic the training the better prepared the Company would be for any eventuality. His belief in training was not just limited to the firefighters but the program he presented to the elementary school student was a model for early childhood fire safety education.

Jim wanted the best equipment possible for his firefighters. He was instrumental in acquiring both federal and State grants to upgrade the equipment utilized by the Company and in the development of the specifications for and purchase of Squad 99 and Tower 99.

As the President of the Black Rock Firefighters Relief Association he maintained 100% accountability of all Relief owned equipment and never had a deficiency noted during inspections/audits by the Pennsylvania Auditor General’s Office.

Information on services and burial are not available at this time. Please keep Jim and his family in your thoughts and prayers.
 
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Joni Rockhill (FF Lee Rockhill's wife- of RFD, Station 98) March 22, 2021 at 11:08 AM
As his fellow Fire Fighters at Station 99 may know, Jim was the Vice President of Enterprise Risk & Resilience at the corporate office of AmerisourceBergen, a pharmaceutical distributor; it is the company I work at. Jim possessed an enormous wealth of knowledge in his profession; he was responsible for dealing with natural disaster recovery, that affect our 27 distribution centers across the country and Puerto Rico. Obviously, Jim’s job carried a huge responsibility, as AmerisourceBergen is # 10 on the Fortune 500 list; we are # 2 in the US for pharmaceutical distribution volume, and the largest revenue of any business in the state of Pennsylvania. He was a guest speaker for one of my dept's monthly meetings; he educated us about natural disaster management for our distribution centers. One subject was the effects of the Hurricane that affected Puerto Rico a few years ago. Your Deputy Chief was regarded as being brilliant, and it goes without saying he will be terribly missed at our company. Aside from being so bright, Jim was truly a nice guy; he chatted with me occasionally about my husband's firefighting career; Lee's FF1 status certification at Bucks County CC, etc. I am so sorry for your station's loss and for the grief his three sons must endure. Bless his soul.