City firefighters paid their annual tribute to the memory of Leonard Corbin, the first black firefighter, with a wreath service Thursday by his monument outside the Mason Square Fire Station.
In a service attended by Mayor Domenic Sarno, Fire Commissioner Bernard J. Calvi, and several of Corbin’s family, speakers celebrated the life of Corbin as a civil rights pioneer in Springfield history.
“I knew Lenny well. He was a great and humble gentleman and firefighter,” said Sarno. "He was a trailblazer – the Jackie Robinson of our SFD. May God rest his soul and may his brave legacy of professionalism live on forever.”
When Corbin was hired as a firefighter in Springfield in 1969, he was only the second black firefighter statewide. He served 32 years until his retirement in 2001.