The San Jose Fire Department has lost one of its own to an aggressive cancer.More >>
FRESNO, Calif. (KMPH) -
A funeral was held in the Valley Friday morning for a San Jose Fire Department captain who died from a very rare cancer.
Captain Jose Martinez, 41, was diagnosed with synovial sarcoma on June 19. He lost his battle with the aggressive cancer on August 10.
Martinez was born in Tulare in 1971 and graduated from Fresno State in 1995.
He began his fire career in 1997 at the age of 26 with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection in the Fresno County Ranger Unit. He worked as a seasonal firefighter and a Limited Term Engineer, and his last assignment at CDF was at the Piedra Fire Station near Sanger. He joined the San Jose Fire Department in 2001.
Martinez met his wife while he worked at Fresno State's Kennel Bookstore. Their son was born in 2004, and they welcomed twin girls just last month.
Family, friends and firefighters attended Martinez's service at Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Northeast Fresno. This was a Class 1 service, which is reserved for a line-of-duty death.
The service was followed by burial at Clovis Cemetery.
