Crime & Safety

Family of 24-Year-Old Firefighter Aims to Support Scholarship Fund

Fitting way to honor Madison resident, Green Village firefighter who died in November, brother says.

Stephen Marano was proud to be a volunteer Green Village firefighter, and after the 24-year-old Madison resident died in November, community members donated about $5,000 through an online fundraising page to support his family.

His family "wanted to give back," and is starting to raise money in Marano's name to support the Green Village Fire Department's scholarship fund, his oldest brother, Anthony Marano, said Tuesday.

It is fitting to support the fire department in Stephen's name because "That's what he was all about, helping the community," Anthony Marano, 28, said.

Plans are in the works for a fundraising event at the Elks lodge next month, and Anthony Marano created a fundraising page at Giveforward.com where people can donate online.

"We feel that this would be our family's way of giving something back and saying thank you for all the love, help, and support of others in the community," he wrote on the "Stephen Marano Scholarship Fund" page.

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The Green Village Fire Department, which serves parts of Chatham Township and Harding, remembered Stephen Marano as "a wonderful man, great friend and dedicated firefighter" who "will always be loved and remembered by his friends and Brothers/Sisters of the Green Village Fire Department."

Marano was a lieutenant with the department. His body was found in Chatham Township after an intense three-day search. He was found by Green Village firefighters not far from where his car was parked on Brittin Road.

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Last month, the department expressed gratitude for "all of the kind words and overwhelming support that you have shown our family during our darkest hours."

"The sudden loss of our brother has left us with heavy hearts and a lot of questions, but all of your support has helped us to grow stronger as a family," a Facebook post said. "Lieutenant Stephen 'Little JC'  Marano may be gone but will never be forgotten. We have brought our brother home, laid him to rest and he is now free. Thank you all from the deepest depths of our hearts."


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