Wife of fallen firefighter speaks for first time since husband's death

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) - Janet Haudenschild, the wife of fallen firefighter Mark Haudenschild II, talked about her husband for the first time since his death at a press conference Wednesday afternoon.

His wife Janet described Haudenschild as a compassionate, caring, and loving man who died doing what he loved.

Mark Haudenschild II died while responding to a brush fire when his tanker rolled, ejecting him from the truck and pinning him underneath.

Photo Gallery: Firefighter dies in tanker crash

The couple had been married for a little over five years. They met during his day job at Comcast. She said she'll miss the simple things like curling up next to him and watching a movie.
She said when they were dating, he talked about joining the fire department.

"He had expressed his want to do this, and although there was a big fear in me that this would happen, but I still felt I could not stop him from doing something he really wanted," Haudenschild said.

She said her children, ages three and one, are now starting to realize the loss of their dad, but she is working on making a scrapbook to eternalize his memory.

"I'm going to make whatever photo album, just any memorabilia I can get, and at some point we'll sit down and talk about it," Haudenschild said.

There will be a viewing for Haudenschild from 2-8 P.M. on Friday at D.O. McComb on Dupont Road. There will also be another viewing Saturday morning from 9 A.M. to noon. His service will be at noon at "The Chapel" located at 2505 W Hamilton Road in Fort Wayne.

Haudenschild Family Memorial Fund

3Rivers has set up a Memorial Fund to directly benefit the wife and two small children of fallen Fort Wayne Firefighter, Mark Haudnenschild II, who died on November 11th in the line of duty. People wishing to support the Haudenschild family may stop in to any of 3Rivers 18 locations in Northeast Indiana and Northwest Ohio to make a deposit into The Haudenschild Family Memorial Fund. 100% of all donations made will go directly to the Haudenschild family.

“Mrs. Haudenschild is one of our valued 3Rivers employees, and this is just one way we can show our love and support to her and her children during this very difficult time,” said Jim Johnson, Vice President of Member Relations. “The outpouring of support from the community in response to this tragedy has been amazing and we want to make it easy for them to help the family.”