The procession from King-Barr Funeral Home continued to the drill grounds of the Pennsylvania State Fire Academy.

Monday, roughly 250 more firefighters from across the Commonwealth and from as far away as Harrisonburg, Va., attended the funeral mass at St. Demetrius Roman Catholic Parish in Gallitzin. Afterward, family and friends gathered for a meal and told stories of humor and sorrow about their life experiences with Bob, all of which embodied his common sense, quick wit, and colorful one-liners.

Being in local emergency services since the late 1990s and having known this man makes it easy to elaborate on McCaa’s life and legacy. In the fire department, the terms brother and sister are often used. Those who use those terms in Lewistown can almost always circle back to a small group of people when talking about pillars within the ranks that exemplify the given term.

One of those pillars in Lewistown was McCaa. He was known to some as Bob, some as instructor McCaa, some called him “Mac,” but most of us called him chief. To some, chief is not just a title or a term; it’s a status, and those of us who continue to call him chief to this day respect him on a completely different level.

Sentinel photo by SAM BAUMGARDNER Gallitzin Fire Chief James Nagle places a carnation on the casket during the funeral Monday afternoon at Saint Patrick’s Cemetery in Gallitzin.

Some may even say that McCaa was a generational chief. He himself comes to the position as a third-generation fire chief, following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather. Bob even raised a fourth-generation firefighter/instructor/leader in his son, Robert R. McCaa, who is a career fire captain in Frederick County, Md.

McCaa was born in Altoona on March 6, 1943, and later graduated from Bishop Guilfoyle High School in 1961. Out of high school, he became an airman in the United States Air Force. His tenure in the Air Force lasted from 1961 to 1965. During his training, his instructors realized that Bob’s mind operated on a different wavelength as he finished his training ahead of schedule. They invited him to come back to the training center in Mississippi as an instructor. He later went on to a new assignment as a ground radio repairman in Alaska before returning home to Altoona.

After his return from his tenure in the Air Force, Bob returned to volunteer firefighting, where his volunteer firefighting tenure began. He rose to the position of fire chief at Gallitzin Fire Co. in Cambria County. In 1978, Bob was hired as a resident instructor at the Pennsylvania State Fire Academy in Lewistown. For the next 25 years, McCaa would serve not just the citizens and volunteer firefighters of Lewistown, Mifflin County, but also the Commonwealth, and even different parts of the US. McCaa retired from the Pennsylvania State Fire Academy in 2003.

The number of minds that were molded, firefighters created, many of which went on to be leaders or mentors themselves, is unfathomable. During his tenure at the fire academy, McCaa began to volunteer locally and rose through the ranks to department chief of the Lewistown Fire Department in 1992 and held the position until he stepped down in 2013. After he stepped down, he again took on another position of leadership within the ranks of the Lewistown Fire Department as the department safety officer until his death.

As previously said, Robert T. McCaa was the epitome of the term brother and held high his readiness and willingness to help others in their time of need. McCaa, during his tenure at the fire academy, was one of the original members of Pennsylvania Task Force 1, which is one of many Urban Search and Rescue teams situated throughout the United States.

Sentinel photo by SAM BAUMGARDNER Emergency services personnel from across Mifflin County, along with Pennsylvania State Fire Academy staff, surround the hearse from King-Barr Funeral Home during the final call announcement from Mifflin County 911 on the drill grounds of the Pennsylvania State Fire Academy, Sunday.

One of the major deployments for PA Taskforce 1 during Bob’s tenure was on Sept. 11, 2001, as they were summoned to Ground Zero. Bob traveled with the team and participated in rescue/recovery operations over several days at the site. Bob’s recollection of this deployment was published in the 2024 9/11Memorial insert in the Sentinel.

During his time in Lewistown, McCaa spent a lot of time helping and tinkering with various local fire departments’ small engine equipment or their front-line apparatus when it needed repairs. Bob was the first call for many local fire companies for issues with the aforementioned. McCaa prided himself in rebuilding apparatus that others said was unrepairable, including a fire engine from the Union Fire Co. in Carlisle that was used by the fire academy for a short time after it was deemed unfixable.

According to McCaa’s son, Robert R., on July 12, he was able to take his father to an antique fire apparatus showcase in Harrisburg called Pump Primers, where the aforementioned Carlisle Fire Engine was displayed by its current owner. Robert R. McCaa said that as soon as his father saw the fire engine, he jumped from his chair and ran to the side of it and began inspecting it and recounting items that he had repaired. His father talked with those in attendance about how well the apparatus that he rebuilt was still holding up.

According to McCaa’s former instructor counterpart, retired Pennsylvania State Fire Academy Resident Instructor Patrick Pauly, most of McCaa’s students, colleagues, and friends will always remember him for his common sense and quick wit. But above all, they will remember his colorful one-liners that he could pop off at any given moment.

Outside of the volunteer fire department after retirement, Bob spent a lot of time at the Mifflin County Airport flying his own personal experimental aircrafts with his friends in a group called the Quiet Birdman based out of the airport.

Sentinel photo by SAM BAUMGARDNER Bucks County Community College Instructor Fred Hartman and Pennsylvania State Fire Academy Adjunct Instructor George Langan stand at attention alongside an enlarged photo of McCaa on the drill grounds of the Pennsylvania State Fire Academy during a procession through the grounds Sunday morning.

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Sam Baumgardner is a photographer and correspondent for The Sentinel, often covering fires and similar events. He volunteered under Lewistown Borough Fire Department Chief Robert McCaa.

Sentinel photo by SAM BAUMGARDNER Retired and active staff of the Pennsylvania State Fire Academy march along the hearse from King-Barr Funeral Home onto the drill grounds of the Pennsylvania State Fire Academy off Riverside Drive in Lewistown, Sunday morning.

Sentinel photo by SAM BAUMGARDNER Pallbearers, from left, front, City Hook & Ladder Lieutenants William Baumgardner III and Randy Baines, middle, City Hook & Ladder Lt. Brian Mowry Jr., and Lewistown Fire Department Deputy Chief Sean Markley, back, Lewistown Fire Department Chief Robert Douglas and retired City Hook & Ladder Firefighter Don Royer Sr. carry the casket bearing former Lewistown Borough Fire Chief/Pennsylvania State Fire Academy Resident Instructor Robert T. McCaa Sunday morning from King-Barr Funeral Home on Logan Street in Lewistown.