Hundreds turn out for fallen firefighter’s service
By Brandi Makuski
More than 300 people came out on Friday to honor the life of Capt. Paul Mattlin from the Stevens Point Fire Department.
Captain Paul “Pauly” Mattlin lost his battle with colon cancer on Saturday, April 22. Mattlin retired from SPFD last year but remained close with many in the department.
Most of the Stevens Point Fire Department was in attendance on April 28, with other departments covering SPFD calls for the duration of the gathering at O’so Brewing Company in Plover.
Mattlin started out his career as a paid-on-call firefighter for the village of Whiting before being hired on at Stevens Point Fire Department. He was promoted to captain in 2017.
Following Mattlin’s 2021 diagnoses, a group of firefighters from the Local 484 launched a fundraiser to help offset his medical expenses, as well as the the “Poop for Pauly” awareness campaign, which encouraged men — and firefighters, in general — to get regular medical checkups.
Fire departments across the region wore the campaign’s blue t-shirts on “Mattlin Mondays,” also adorning their helmet and vehicles with stickers brandishing Mattlin’s name and number, 70.
With on-duty personnel donning their dress uniforms, the t-shirts were worn by several off-duty and retired members, and others, at the Celebration of Life on April 28. Mixed into the crowd of firefighters, EMTs, and their families, were numerous city officials, representatives from numerous municipalities, past and present personnel from Portage Co. Emergency Management, and other groups.
Local 484 President Justin Thomson said he made the decision to classify Mattlin’s passing as a line-of-duty death. Thomson’s voice shook as he talked about the effect Mattlin had on everyone around him through his contributions to the department and his affable demeanor.
Regional and state firefighter representatives were on hand to present Mattlin’s wife, Wendy, and their two boys with honorariums and an American flag that had flown in Paul’s honor.
Dan Kontos, retired chief deputy for the Portage Co. Sheriff’s Office, was one of Mattlin’s closest friends. His eulogy painted a picture of Mattlin meeting St. Peter at the gates of heaven, being granted entrance, and watching the Celebration of Life from above.
“This is what he wanted. Not some dark and stodgy funeral, with everyone depressed in black or grey, getting in line to show their sympathies. He wanted us to be together, to live. To celebrate. He not just his life, but they life we celebrated with him together. The time we had with him was cut tragically short, but it was wonderful,” Kontos said.
He closed out his remarks with a toast to Mattlin, taken from a Robert Burns poem, sometimes given as a sign of solidarity in honor of a fallen brother or sister: “Here’s to us, and those like us,” to which many in the crowd responded, “The damn few.”
