30-05-2025
Hometown heroes: Wethersfield mural honors fallen firefighter, police officer
WETHERSFIELD, Conn. (WTNH) — A mural in Wethersfield is honoring two local heroes who gave their life in the line of duty.
Wethersfield FD honors crew member who died on duty
Robert 'Sharky' Sharkevich and Bobby Garten's legacies live on in the mural, which is placed in front of the 911 Sports and Community Center in Wethersfield. Sharkevich, a long-time Connecticut firefighter, died in Oct. 2024 while fighting the Hawthorne fire in Berlin; Garten, a police officer, in Sept. 2023 while responding to a call for help.
'[Garten] was my best friend growing up and both of us a lifelong Wethersfield resident, it memorializes a couple of hometown heroes, and it is a great thing!' Jay Granato of Wethersfield said.
Granato continued to say that Garten would've loved the mural.
Corey Payne, the artist who painted the mural, is also from Wethersfield. He said that he did a lot of research to capture who the two men were in the painting.
'You kind of wanna look at it as a way to see the person again, so you wanna make sure you catch their likeness and essence,' Payne said.
The memorial is finished and out for everyone to see. A more personal memorial for Sharkevich is in the firehouse: a piece of glass has been ordered to go in his locker, keeping everything in it as it was the day that he died.
'Here are two people doing their job, making a difference in their communities and unfortunately met an untimely demise, it's important to remember them for all the good things that they did and hopefully it will be an inspiration to the next generation,' Bill Desrosiers, a Wethersfield resident, said.
Watch the full video in the player above.
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