PINEVILLE -- It's been a little more than a month since 20-year-old Richard Sheltra died fighting a fire in Pineville.
There are pictures and mementos everywhere in the house that Richard Sheltra shared with his family.
“He was a 20-year-old hometown all American boy,” his mother Linay Sheltra said.
Richard Sheltra was the kid who carried his girlfriend’s books through the halls of South Mecklenburg High School. He was class president in fifth grade. At the age of 16, Richard Sheltra was already a junior firefighter because he just wanted to help.
“It’s in his blood,” his mom said. “He went on all the fire calls with us.”
Both of his parents were firefighters. Linay Sheltra says she truly didn't worry that he worked as a volunteer firefighter for Pineville.
“There’s nothing that beats the firefighter brotherhood. Nothing beats it so I wanted him to be a part of it,” she said.
She and her husband know the safety issues and the training involved to become a firefighter.
“This was his future,” she said. “All that he planned for.”
It was his future until about a month ago when Richard Sheltra suffered smoke inhalation and later died after fighting a fire inside Edwin Watt’s golf shop along Pineville-Matthews Road. Part of the struggle for the family is they live so close to where the fire burned.
“The last night I had with Richard, we discussed how Americans treat EMTs, police officers and firefighters,” Linay Sheltra said.
She said Richard Sheltra was upset because firefighters risk their lives to help save the lives of others.
“We are there to save lives and people don’t appreciate that and it really made him angry,” Linay Sheltra said.
Thursday would have been Richard Sheltra’s 21st birthday and Linay Sheltra is grateful for the nationwide effort that will help honor her son.
People across the country will deliver chocolate chip cookies, Richard Sheltra’s favorite, to fire stations.
“It’s gonna be amazing. I'll be overwhelmed,” said Linay Sheltra. “It's what Richard would have wanted. He would have been embarrassed to have his name out here…but he would have been very proud that we are honoring the men and women behind the badge.”
Along with cookies that will be delivered to fire stations in the Charlotte area will be handwritten thank you notes from the kids at Smithfield Elementary School, where Richard was the fifth grade class president.
“We’ve read through every one of them,” Linay Sheltra said. “They've been amazing. The innocence of the youth.”
The thank yous are on behalf of her son, a true hometown boy and a hometown hero.
The family has started a memorial fund in his honor to help raise money for other firefighters to get the gear and continuing education they need. You can donate to the Richard Sheltra Memorial Fund at the Charlotte Fire Department Credit Union.