Ex-fire chief remembered with fondness

During William M. Hallett's career as a Nevada City firefighter, he would sometimes keep a fire truck parked in his backyard to ensure he wasn't late to respond to any fire.

Hallett was a fourth-generation firefighter whose family has lived in Nevada City since the 1850s, according to his son, Bill Hallett.

Last Sunday, William Hallett died at the age of 81 at the Golden Empire Convalescent Hospital in Grass Valley. He is survived by his wife Delima Hallett of 60 years, two daughters, two sons and their families.

William Hallett was the Nevada City fire chief in 1951and1952 and a charter member of the 49er Fire Department since 1955. He was also the superintendent of public works for Nevada City in the 1960s and 1970s.

"My father was the type of person who'd give you the shirt off his back if you needed it," Bill Hallett said. "He was very kind, very gentle and very caring. Wild animals like raccoons, deer and squirrels would come and eat out of his hands."

Delima Hallett, 77, fondly reminisced her first meeting with her husband at the Bret Harte ice-cream parlor in Nevada City over a chocolate milk shake in the spring of 1946. She was then in high school and he was fresh out of the Navy, she said. The two got married in December 1947, Bill Hallett said.

"He was a wonderful husband, father and provider," Delima Hallett said.

William Hallett and Delima Hallett lived their entire married life in a house he built on Broad Street in 1947, she said.

"My father loved working with wood," Bill Hallett said. "He was a carpenter in the Navy in World War II. He loved to build different things. He loved to build rock walls too."

On Monday, April 14, William Hallett's casket will be taken in procession around Nevada City on an old Nevada City fire truck, Bill Hallett said.

The procession will start at 1 p.m. at the Hooper and Weaver Mortuary in Nevada City, go along the freeway, turn on Highway 49 toward Downieville, go past the new consolidated fire station and the old 49er fire station, make a left on east Broad Street and pass the Pennsylvania No. 2 fire station, where the fire bell will be rung 81 times, Bill Hallett said.

The procession will then head back to Hooper and Weaver, where graveside services will be held at 2 p.m.

Besides Bill Hallett, 46, who's from Newcastle, Wyo., William Hallett's children include Mike Hallett, 58, of Grass Valley, Patti Fiesel, 56, of Penn Valley, and Vickie Hilstad, 51, of Grass Valley.

To contact Soumitro Sen, e-mail ssen@theunion.com or call 477-4229.