A local high school student has channeled his passion for public service into a lasting tribute on the grounds of his home parish. Caleb Brooks, a 15-year-old sophomore at Green High School, recently constructed a dedicated outdoor shrine honoring firefighters at Queen of Heaven Catholic Church, located at 1800 Steese Road in Green. The endeavor serves as his official Eagle Scout service project.
The memorial pays homage to St. Florian, recognized in Catholic tradition as the patron saint of firefighters, chimney sweeps, barrel makers, soap makers, brewers, Poland, and the Austrian city of Linz. Brooks invested 12 hours of physical labor into the installation, adding a meaningful new landmark to the parish's 18½-acre campus, which now features 15 distinct religious shrines.
The newly completed shrine will take center stage during a Patriot Day prayer service scheduled at Queen of Heaven on Sept. 11, running from 4:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. During the ceremony, the church's senior pastor, the Rev. David Durkee, will formally bless the structure in the presence of parishioners and community members gathering to remember the victims of the 2001 terrorist attacks.
The dedication coincides with the 25th anniversary of the coordinated hijackings that claimed 2,977 lives across New York City, the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, and a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. That tragic day took an enormous toll on emergency personnel, claiming 441 first responders, including 343 New York City firefighters, 37 Port Authority police officers, and 23 New York City police officers.
Though Brooks was born years after the national tragedy occurred, the young scout was driven by a deep personal connection to emergency services. His father is an active firefighter, and the sophomore hopes to pursue the same career path once he completes his schooling. Brooks noted that after conceiving the shrine concept, he presented the proposal to Father Durkee, who promptly gave his blessing.
Brooks’ commitment to emergency response is strongly rooted in a desire to help others during crises. He explained that his ambition is to step up and support people on what is often the worst day of their lives, a guiding principle that has shaped his scouting journey and his long-term professional aspirations.
The figure commemorated at the site, St. Florian of Lorch, has a storied military and spiritual history dating back to the third century. Born in present-day Austria in 250 A.D., Florian served as a commander in the Roman Army, where he was tasked with training and organizing an elite group of soldiers dedicated specifically to extinguishing fires.
Florian’s steadfast faith eventually brought him into direct conflict with Roman authorities during the severe persecution of Christians orchestrated by Emperor Diocletian. Defying official imperial decrees, Florian refused to burn Christian churches, detain believers, or make sacrificial offerings to traditional Roman deities, boldly declaring his own devotion to Christianity instead.
As punishment for his defiance, Florian was sentenced to be burned at the stake in 304 A.D. However, wary Roman soldiers altered the execution method, fastening a heavy millstone around his neck and casting him into the Enns River to drown. Fellow Christians later recovered his remains and interred them near Lorch at an Augustinian monastery, with his relics eventually relocated to the site where the St. Florian Monastery remains today. His feast day is observed annually on May 4, matching International Firefighters Day.
The vocation of public safety runs directly in the family. Brooks' father, Eric Brooks, currently serves with the Stow Fire Department, where he has worked for 18 years. On Sept. 11, 2001, the elder Brooks was a chemical engineering student at the University of Akron and was just beginning his second day of a cooperative education placement.
Recalling the morning of the attacks, Eric Brooks described arriving at the Goodyear Polymer Center to discover empty hallways, eventually finding a crowd gathered around a television broadcast. Initially suspecting that a small private aircraft had struck the World Trade Center, the gravity of the assault became clear when the second airliner hit the South Tower.
Although he had originally entered higher education to study firefighting before switching tracks to follow his grandfather’s footsteps in chemical engineering, the elder Brooks ultimately realized his true calling lay in direct community service. After learning that the father of a former classmate served as the fire chief in Stow, he interviewed for the position with a promise that, if hired, he would dedicate his entire career to that agency.
The younger Brooks has mirrored that high standard of commitment through his scouting achievements. In his push to attain the Eagle Scout rank before the close of the calendar year, Caleb has earned 31 merit badges along with four notable Catholic religious emblems: Alteri Dei, Pope Pius XII, Parvuli Dei, and the rare Pillars of Faith award, which is attained by only two percent of Catholic scouts nationwide.
Father Durkee, who is an Eagle Scout himself, emphasized the meaningful connection between scouting, faith formation, and community appreciation. Queen of Heaven established Scout Troop 332 in 2002, and the unit has since seen 60 young men reach the rank of Eagle Scout under its banner.
The pastor noted that his own Eagle Scout project played a foundational role in discerning his religious vocation, viewing scouting as an effective ministry for teaching Gospel values. He commended Brooks for enhancing the church grounds with a monument honoring emergency personnel, pointing out that the parish maintains deep gratitude for local responders, particularly with the Green Fire Department stationed just a minute away.
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