Richard L. Glover, 52, firefighter and corrections officer
He received citations for helping to rescue people from fires.
WHEN RICHARD Glover and his fellow firefighters arrived at the burning four-story apartment building at 22nd and Venango streets on Oct. 7, 2004, they discovered what is always a firefighter's worst nightmare: several residents trapped inside.
The firefighters did what firefighters do. They fought their way into the building, moving through smoke-clogged hallways and raising ladders to the windows.
Thanks to their efforts, all the residents made it out safely. For his work, as a member of Engine 45 at 26th and York streets, Richard received one of the many citations he earned in 25 years with the Philadelphia Fire Department.
Richard L. Glover, a former Philadelphia corrections officer, a basketball coach devoted to keeping youngsters out of trouble, an Army veteran and a loving family man, died of cancer Saturday. He was 52 and lived in Mount Airy.
He was born in Philadelphia to Louise and Dennis Weston. He grew up in North Philadelphia and graduated from Benjamin Franklin High School. He later took courses at Widener University.
He enlisted in the Army in the early 1980s and served in Germany. After his discharge in 1985, he worked for several years as an officer at the city's House of Correction on State Road.
Richard was not yet out of his teens when he started to coach basketball at a city recreation center.
"He mentored the younger children," said his wife, the former Michelle Gibson. "He wanted to keep them out of trouble."
When he started at the Fire Department, his first assignment was with Engine 40 in Southwest Philadelphia. In addition to his service with Engine 45, he served for a time with Engine 27 at 19th and Oxford.
He received another citation for rescuing a man and a woman from a burning two-story house on Dover Street near Oxford on Jan. 12, 2006. He found the woman unconscious on the first floor and, continuing through the smoke, found an unconscious man in the dining room. He got both of them out of the house and they were resuscitated. The fire turned out to have been an arson.
Richard once suffered burns of the face and neck fighting a fire, but otherwise escaped injury.
He had to leave the department after becoming ill about a year ago.
Richard married Michelle Gibson in 1991.
"He was a family man," his wife said. "He was very funny - the life of the party - but he could also be stern. He loved to have fun and liked to dance. He was a very old-school gentleman."
Richard was a Mason.
Besides his wife, he is survived by his mother; two sons, Richard Glover Jr. and Justin B. Glover; two daughters, Jasmine and Tajanae Glover; two brothers, Walter and Kevin Glover; a sister, Deirdre Weston; and a granddaughter, Brianna.
Services: 11 a.m. Monday at Deliverance Evangelistic Church, 20th Street and Lehigh Avenue. Friends may call at 9 a.m. Burial will be at Chelten Hills Cemetery.