Fernando "Espy" Espinosa Obituary (1937

Vietnam veteran and retired fire commissioner Fernando "Espy" Espinosa passed away on December 1, 2019 after a battle with bile duct cancer. Though the disease may have taken his vitality and caused him significant pain, it never darkened his positive outlook. Espy remained grateful for the blessings of his life up until the end of his fight. He was born on July 7, 1937 in Herington, Kansas -- the seventh in a family of nine children born to Sarah Moncivic and Fred Espinosa. He lost both of his parents before he turned 10. Espy's oldest brother, Joseph, took time off from his job at the Ford Motor Company to retrieve Espy and his other siblings. "Papa Joe" and his wife Julia raised this expanded family in Detroit on just one salary. Espy left home at 17 to follow an older brother into the U.S. Navy . He eventually became a torpedoman - a move that led him to meet the love of his life and to discover the place he'd call home for the next 50 years. From his first visit to the then-ammunition depot at Bangor in 1960, he loved the area's people as well as its abundant opportunities for hunting and fishing; Espy knew he'd settle here when he got the chance. He served 18 months in Vietnam where he, like so many others, was exposed to Agent Orange as well as traumatic stress. Just two years before his passing, Espy was granted the benefits due him for his status as a 100% disabled veteran. While assigned to the torpedo test range at Nanoose Bay, British Columbia in 1967, Espy met Florita "Rita" Botham. He left active-duty military service in 1969; he and Rita were married in Tacoma in 1970. In 1972, the family settled in Suquamish when Espy took a civilian job at NUWC Keyport where he worked for the next 33 years. Shortly after moving to Suquamish, he became a volunteer firefighter with Kitsap County Fire District #4 (Suquamish) and rose through the ranks to serve briefly as fire chief before becoming one of that district's fire commissioners in 1987. Espy was instrumental in the merger of KCFD #4 into KCFD #10 in 1994; the larger district became North Kitsap Fire & Rescue (NKF&R). He was very proud to have been a part of bringing better emergency services to his community, and unwavering in his support of the firefighters providing that service. Espy remained on the Board of Fire Commissioners until retiring in 2017 at the age of 80. That same year, after decades of public service on the federal and local levels, Espy fulfilled a lifelong dream of prospecting in Alaska with his step-son, Kenneth. The pair hunted, fished, camped and panned for gold. NKF&R Fire Chief Dan Smith expressed his hope that the father and son would hit the motherlode. "Even if they do," Smith added, "It couldn't measure up to the value of all that Espy has given - to country and community." Espy was a devoted Roman Catholic, attending St. Peter's Mission. Additionally, he was a proud member of the Suquamish Warriors, a veterans support group. He was preceded in death by his beloved Rita in 2011 and his step-son Kenneth Botham in 2018 as well as his parents and seven siblings. He is survived by brother Rito Espinosa of Joliet, Illinois; sister Minerva Garcia of North Hollywood, California; step-daughter Dixie Parizek of Silverdale, Washington; scores of nieces and nephews to whom he was a favorite uncle; and innumerable friends, especially Joanne Gipson and the Todd Family of Suquamish, Washington. Services will be held at the House of Awakened Culture (7235 NE Parkway, Suquamish) on January 22, 2020 at 11 a.m. In lieu of flowers, Espy requested that donations be made to the Suquamish Warriors (P.O. Box 215, Suquamish, WA 98392).