KALAMAZOO, MI — This Veterans Day, the families of two veterans who died while working as first responders no longer have to pay for the homes they live in, thanks to a gift.
The Tunnel to Towers Foundation announced it paid, in full, the mortgage on the Paw Paw home of Lieutenant and former United States Marine Corps Corporal Ethan Quillen and the Galesburg home of Van Buren County Deputy James Lear.
On Feb. 22, 2023, Quillen responded to a report of wires down due to a severe ice storm. He was killed by falling power lines while on scene.
Quillen was born in Armidale, New South Wales, Australia, and moved to the U.S. when he was 6 years old, enlisting in the Marines in 2013. After serving for some time, he decided to switch his career to become a first responder.
In 2019, Quillen joined the Village of Paw Paw Fire Department and he was promoted to lieutenant of the truck known as “Grass Rig 1207″ about a year later. Quillen was promoted again in 2022 to lieutenant of Engine 1201, Paw Paw’s main engine.
He left behind his wife Kaitlyn, and their daughter, when he died.
“The kindness, generosity and peace of mind that Tunnel to Towers has given to me and my daughter in this time of tragedy and sorrow is truly overwhelming,” Kaitlyn Quillen said in the news release.
Deputy Lear died Dec. 10, 2021, from complications of COVID-19 contracted in the line of duty, the Tunnel to Towers Foundation said.
Before serving his community as a deputy, Lear served in the U.S. Army. He decided to join the Army following the Sept. 11 terror attacks, enlisting in 2005. He met his wife, Tricia, while stationed at Fort Bragg, his obituary says.
After Lear was medically separated from the Army, he decided to become a law enforcement officer. He was hired as an animal control officer for the Van Buren County Sheriff’s Office and eventually became a sheriff’s deputy in 2014.
Lear left behind his wife Tricia, and their four children. Tricia said she is grateful to Tunnel to Towers for providing her and her children with the financial stability of a mortgage-free home, according to the organization.
The Tunnel to Towers Foundation Fallen First Responder Program pays off the mortgages for the families of law enforcement officers and firefighters who are killed in the line of duty and leave behind young children.
For Veterans Day, the foundation paid off the mortgages for Gold Star families, catastrophically-injured veterans and fallen first responders with prior military service in honor of the day of remembrance.
“This Veterans Day, we thank those who volunteered to step up and serve our country and acknowledge all they sacrificed to keep us and our country safe,” Tunnel to Towers Chairman and CEO Frank Siller said. “For the loved ones of those heroes who protected us at home and abroad, the Tunnel to Towers Foundation stands with you in honoring your loved one’s memory and their enduring legacy of service.”
The organization said it keeps the cost of the mortgages private and declined to say how much was paid.
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The Tunnel to Towers Foundation was born from the tragedy of 9/11 and has a mission to “do good,” by providing mortgage-free homes to Gold Star and fallen first responder families with young children. The organization also builds specially-adapted smart homes for catastrophically-injured veterans and first responders. Learn more at T2T.org.
