BY CHAD SMITH
The Gainesville Sun
Robert H. “Buddy” Gasche Jr. Photo Courtesy Gainesville Fire Rescue
A Gainesville firefighter was killed in a traffic accident on his way back from a hunting trip in Georgia to begin his shift Monday morning.
Robert H. “Buddy” Gasche Jr., 54, of Alachua, a 20-year veteran of Gainesville Fire Rescue, died after a crash in Baker County at about 6:30 a.m., but few other details were available Monday evening.
Gene Prince, the department's interim chief, said Gasche had been in Georgia hunting for deer and was driving back to start his 8 a.m. shift at the Gainesville Regional Airport station.
“I don't think he got a chance to go [hunting] much,” Prince said. “He was a family man. He had a daughter that he adored and doted on.”
Gasche was a paramedic for Alachua County Fire Rescue before becoming a firefighter with GFR. In 2005, he was deployed to South Florida with a state search-and-rescue task force to respond to emergency calls in the wake of Hurricane Wilma.
Prince said Gasche was also a skilled carpenter whose cabinets were used in the back of department vehicles.
“He loved people, and he'd help you whenever he could,” Prince said.
In addition to his daughter, Jordanna, Gasche is survived by his father, Robert Gasche Sr.; mother, Carol Gasche; and two sisters, Laurene and Tracy.