Knightsen's Robert "Bob" Pastor will have get one last ride in a vintage fire truck on Tuesday as he is driven from Oakley's St. Anthony Church to Union Cemetery in Brentwood. A longtime firefighter for the Knighten community, Pastor passed away on Nov. 15 after a long illness.
"Funny thing about that fire truck he'll be riding in is that he helped to restore it to get it going," lifelong friend Al Bello said.
According to Bello, over the past several years a group of former volunteer Knightsen firefighters have been slowly restoring old fire trucks. The most resent restoration was a 1950s' Chevy Knightsen fire truck, which Pastor took an active part in restoring and wanted outfitted to be used during his funeral procession.
As lifelong residents of Knightsen, Pastor, Bello and two other friends signed up to become Knightsen Fire Department volunteers on the same day in 1950.
"Bob and I went to grammar school, high school, the National Guard together and finally joined the volunteer fire department," Bello said. "Bob was a great volunteer fireman. In the 1980s he became fire chief of the Knightsen station and then later became chief of both Oakley and Knighten."
Bello complimented Pastor on his running of the fire district, which was operated with volunteers for a many years before incorporating into the East Contra Costa Fire District. Pastor accomplished quite a bit, he said, during his time as chief, including the training of first-rate volunteers, procuring high-quality equipment with monies he didn't have to borrow and keeping everything within budget. In total Pastor served as a fireman for 44 years.