A longtime Omaha firefighter described by his brother as the first graduate of Gross Catholic High School to be hired by the Omaha Fire Department died Wednesday following a battle with prostate cancer. Ronald Mixan, 64, served on the Omaha Fire Department from 1978 to 2003. Two of Mixan’s nine brothers eventually followed him onto the Fire Department. “I was about 12 years old when he got hired and he was somebody we all looked up to,” said Joe Mixan, 52, of Papillion. “He kind of led the way for me and my brother John really becoming interested in the Fire Department.”