SEQUIM — The last alarm sounded Saturday for fallen Jefferson County firefighter Mike Beery, who died June 10 while climbing Mount Rainier.
More than 600 people attended Beery’s memorial service in the Sequim High School auditorium at Beery’s alma mater. He graduated in 1993.
Those who knew Beery, and loved him, have taken his accidental death hard, not just because of his age, but because of the kind of person, he was, they said.
During the service, friends, fellow Jefferson County Fire District No. 1 firefighters and firefighters from other districts and counties described the 29-year-old father of two as an eternal optimist, a friend to everybody he met, a doting parent, caring husband and a lover of the outdoors.
Adventurous spirit
He was also remembered as an adventurer who liked to surf, snow ski and hike. He also served two six-month stints as a firefighter at a research station in Antarctica before pursuing his career choice in earnest and settling down back home on the North Olympic Peninsula.
“That was part of his character,” said his brother, Chris Beery, an officer in the U.S. Air Force.
“Who else would want to go to Antarctica and do that?”
Beery’s uncle, Pierce County Superior Court Judge Frank Cuthbertson, remembered him as a charming young man who seemed larger than life, even as a kid.
“He wasn’t afraid of anything,” Cuthbertson said.
