By Irma Widjojo
Times-Herald
VALLEJO, Calif. — A big local “family” now has a void.
“It’s a void we’ll always remember,” Jimmy Pierson said.
The “family” is Vallejo-based Medic Ambulance, which lost one of its own on Easter Sunday. A 30-year veteran of the company, Travis “Trap” Grace, 80, died of natural causes after surviving a couple bouts of stroke and battling dementia.
“Our family wouldn’t have been here without Travis,” Pierson, vice president of operation, said.
Last Call for Paramedic Travis “Trap” GraceRIPVallejo ambulance company loses a ‘legend’It would have been a honor to have know you Sir.......PoF
Posted by Paramedics on Facebook on Tuesday, April 14, 2015
Pierson’s family started the company in 1979 with two ambulances and four employees.
Five years later, Grace, who was already 50, joined the crew as an Emergency Medical Technician.
Although he was one of the newer employees, Grace stuck by the company through the tougher times.
“He worked for two years without pay,” Pierson said. “Travis invested in our family, more than our own family members did.”
Over the years, Grace became a family member to everyone in Medic Ambulance, including going on vacations, joining family holidays and taking care of everyone’s children.
“Everybody’s kids were his kids,” Pierson said. “He took care of people he didn’t need to.”
The single man did not have a family of his own, according to the people closest to him. He was also not one to share about his past.
What his California family knows is this: Grace was born in 1934 in Alabama. He joined the U.S. Air Force in the 1950s in Michigan to become a para jumper, a medic personnel who would jump out of airlines and helicopters to help the wounded.
During his tenure in the Air Force, Grace was decorated with two Bronze Star Medals for his service during the Vietnam War. Before joining Medic Ambulance, he was later honorably discharged as a major sergeant in the 1980s from Travis Air Force Base. While he was serving in the military, he also lived in Saudi Arabia and England.
He had a black belt in karate, was a certified scuba driver, a country music lover, and was a ladies’ man. Travis also loved sailing and horse races.
“He was an individual soul,” Pierson said. “He respected others and his own privacy.”
Travis later became a paramedic after completing a program at Stanford in 1990, and was a mentor for many others.
Vallejo Fire Battalion Chief Cliff Campbell remembers the first time he met Grace.
Campbell was a fresh high school graduate going through the EMT class at Solano College, and was also a fire explorer in Vallejo.
During a training session, Campbell said Grace came to the site to observe.
“I introduced myself, and told him about me going through the EMT classes,” he said. “Travis then asked me if I’d be interested to do a ride along, and he took me under his wings.”
Campbell was later employed as a paramedic at Medic Ambulance where he worked with Grace for eight years.
“He was a good, strong paramedic. Very competent.” Campbell added.
Pierson said Grace was not only a decorated military man, he also was awarded with many accolades as a paramedic, including several Solano County EMT of the Year and Paramedic of the Year awards, the Frank Springer Award for lifetime achievement, and a few others.
“He did not like all that attention on him,” Eric Sponsler said. “He was proud of the awards, but he would not campaign for himself. ... In fact, he would not like us (interviewing for this article), and talking about all this. But he deserved every bit of it.”
Sponsler was a Medic Ambulance paramedic for 20 years and was a close friend to Travis.
“I consider him a big brother,” he said.
Grace was such an integral part to Medic Ambulance that he was still working there as a logistics supervisor in his 70s until 2013.
“He’s a legend to the community, though he probably didn’t want himself to be one,” Pierson said.
In his honor, two funds have been set up to help a new generation improve in the medical fields.
In 2009, Medic Ambulance gave the top EMT in the company the Travis Grace Excellence in EMS Award, which funds paramedic school for the recipient.
This year, the company is starting the Travis H. Grace Memorial Scholarship Fund to help African-American high school children pursue further education in the medical fields.
“Ethnicity disparity in the medical fields was something that Travis was aware of and he would want us to do this,” Pierson said.
A military funeral service for Grace is scheduled at 10 a.m. Tuesday at the Mount Cavalry Baptist Church, 1735 Enterprise Drive, Fairfield, followed by a processions to the Sacramento Valley National Cemetery, 5810 Midway Road, Dixon. A reception will be held afterward at the McCormack hall, 900 Fairgrounds Drive, Vallejo.
In lieu of flowers, contributions to the memorial fund are requested, which can be made at any Bank of the West location.
“Travis has a lot of people waiting for him on the other side,” Pierson said. “Medic Ambulance has truly lost its heart and soul.”
Contact Irma Widjojo at 707-553-6835.
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©2015 Times-Herald (Vallejo, Calif.)