COMSTOCK TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) — A Comstock Township fire chief who died in the line of duty was recognized and honored with the unveiling of a statue Saturday.

Chief Edward Switalski’s statue was revealed in Comstock Township at a Firefighters Memorial. The fire department also celebrated its 100th anniversary of service. 

Switalski died in the line of duty in June of 2017, after he was hit by a truck while responding to a call on the highway.

Switalski’s wife, Holly, was one of the speakers at the unveiling ceremony. She spoke about her late husband’s honor and service to the community.  

“Today we come together to acknowledge Ed’s legacy, we gather in love and friendship for a man that touched us all,” Holly Switalski said during her remarks. “Eddy, you are missed, you are loved, we honor you and we will never forget you.”

The statue was funded completely through community donations. Joshua Diedrich, the artist and sculptor behind the statue, told News 8 that many months went into ensuring that the sculpture captured Switalski’s entire self. 

“We spent a lot of time going back and forth talking to his friends and family and making sure that it really felt like him,” Diedrich said. “Not just looked like him but really felt like him, really had his personality, his posture, his stance and wanted to make sure that it just had as much of him preserved in that bronze as we possibly could.”

Switalski is remembered as a loving and selfless leader who was revered by the entire community.  The current Comstock Township Fire Chief Matt Beauchamp said that the fire station is “not the same without him.”

“He selflessly served the community; he was doing one of the things that he loved in life, and he ultimately lost his life in the line of duty. Being able to take time to respect that, reflect on that for those that had relationships with Ed to be able to honor it in essence in some ways,” Beauchamp told News 8. 

Diedrich echoed those statements, adding that the statue humanizes the line of service.  

“Ed’s story in particular really brings home the idea that these are real people with families and lives and their own dreams and their own retirement that they want and letting him stand in for everyone who wears the uniform,” he told News 8.

Now, this statue will serve as a way to keep Switalski’s legacy alive for years to come.

“I’m always struck with the idea that this is going to be here for the next hundreds of years after anyone that knew him is gone and is going to become the memory of him,” Diedrich said.