Girrbach Funeral Home

Retirement came earlier than he hoped. At the age of 42, after 19 years as a firefighter, he was diagnosed with Stage IV pancreatic cancer in 2015. He retired a year later and, six months ago, he and his wife moved back to his native Michigan and got a farm with a horse, a miniature horse, a donkey and a Brahma bull.“We fulfilled his dream,” said his wife of 21 years, Lisa Vanravenswaay.Vanravenswaay died Friday. He was 44.Orange firefighter's pancreatic-cancer diagnosis leads to calls for change »Family photo / Courtesy photo Stephen Shakey Vanravenswaay- Original Credit: Family photo- Original Source: Family photoStephen Shakey Vanravenswaay- Original Credit: Family photo- Original Source: Family photo (Family photo / Courtesy photo)Vanravenswaay, a father of two daughters, had a bawdy sense of humor and loved helping people, whether it was on the job or as a Little League coach, his wife said.He joined Volusia County Fire Rescue in his early 20s after a stint with the Air Force in California. Two years later, he wanted to move to a bigger department and applied in Orange County. They hired him.He got the nickname “Shakey” early in his career, when his knee started to wobble as he propped up a restaurant cook who accidentally cut herself on the job and fainted. The name stuck, and few in the fire department called him anything else.He spent 17 healthy years with the department. But during those years, researchers found a link between firefighters and an increased risk of cancer: A large-scale Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study found firefighters were 9 percent more likely to be diagnosed with cancer and 14 percent more likely to die from the disease.Vanravenswaay had no family history of cancer, but he spent almost two decades going in and out of smoke-filled buildings. In recent years, firefighters have been decontaminating their gear and keeping a distance from anything that has been in contact with heavy smoke. That was not the case when Vanravenswaay joined the department."If somebody asked me, would you [with] what I know now, would I... (Orlando Sentinel)