Funeral Date Set For Late Barnstable Fire Chief John Jenkins

BARNSTABLE, MA — The wake for former West Barnstable Fire Chief John Jenkins, who served with the department for more than 30 years, is set for Friday.

The department announced that a wake will be held on Friday from 4 to 7 p.m. at Doane, Beal & Ames Funeral Home on West Main Street in Hyannis. A First responder walk-through is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.

Funeral services are scheduled for Saturday at the West Parish/1717 Meetinghouse in West Barnstable, followed by burial at the West Barnstable Cemetery at Route 149 and Route 6A. A reception at "The Chicken Coop" is scheduled following the burial.

According to an obituary, Jenkins died last week after a brief illness. He was 77.

Jenkins is best known among the community as a longtime figure with the fire department, where he worked for 32 years beginning in 1973. He was first elected fire chief when he was 27.

"John loved West Barnstable and the West Barnstable Fire Department," the department said, in a statement.

"John was born to be a firefighter and fire chief, having ridden his bicycle to fires as a teenager, joining the WBFD in 1962. His chicken coop on Parker Road served as the WBFD’s Fire Station No. 2 for about two decades, until he oversaw the building of our current fire station in 1988."

They continued:

"In the 1970s and 1980s, Chief Jenkins was well known for his calling of the BINGO numbers at the weekly WB Firefighter’s Bingo Fundraiser at the BWB Elementary School. Additionally, he served as the Town of Barnstable Forest Fire Warden, was a salesman for Pierce Fire Apparatus, and was famous for his Hot Dog Truck, “John’s Dogs”, – he made great clam chowder and hot dogs. The passing of John is a great loss to the entire West Barnstable Community."