Life of former DC fire chief to be remembered next Saturday

Former D.C. Fire and EMS Chief Kenneth B. Ellerbe will be remembered by the fire department at the D.C. Armory on Saturday, March 12.

A tweet from D.C. Fire and EMS said a viewing will be held at 9 a.m., followed by what’s billed as a celebration of life from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

A procession to Lincoln Memorial Cemetery will follow.

Ellerbe, 61, died in his D.C. home on Sunday morning.

Ellerbe was the department’s chief for 3 1/2 years before retiring in 2014. He had been with the department three decades.

A D.C. native, Ellerbe graduated from Coolidge High School and the University of D.C.

He joined D.C. Fire in 1982 and served as interim fire chief for a few months in 2000 while Anthony Williams was mayor. He left the District in 2009 to work as fire chief of Florida’s Sarasota Fire Department. He then returned to D.C. as chief.

WTOP’s Jessica Kronzer contributed to this story.

Colleen Kelleher

Colleen Kelleher is an award-winning journalist who has been with WTOP since 1996. Kelleher joined WTOP as the afternoon radio writer and night and weekend editor and made the move to WTOP.com in 2001. Now she works early mornings as the site's Senior Digital Editor.

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