Longtime Paramedic Mourned in Pa. Community

March 20--One night while on patrol, police officer Bob Bruneio heard a scanner call about a little girl with possible cardiac arrest. When Bruneio heard the address -- his house -- his heart dropped and he started racing home.

When Bruneio stumbled through the front door into a jumble of officers and paramedics packed in his living room, he saw his 18-month-old daughter wrapped in big Billy Guth Jr.'s arms.

"I beat you," Guth said with a grin. He had been the first to arrive, getting there even before the ambulance crew that had been dispatched.

At that moment, Bruneio knew everything would be OK because "Billy was there."

For more than three decades, Guth was always there, at the medical calls for workers injured on the job to a little girl with a severe earache and no way to get to a doctor.

On Saturday, several streets in Bethlehem will be closed to traffic to handle the crush of mourners expected to pay last respects to a practical joker with an infectious laugh who selflessly served his community. Two medical helicopters will honor him with flyovers.

Guth, 57, died in his home last weekend, less than three months after his retirement from the city he served for 30 years as an paramedic.

"This is someone who took care of a homeless guy the same way he would treat the president of Bethlehem Steel," Bethlehem police Chief Mark DiLuzio said. "Each person Billy took care of was treated with dignity and respect."

Guth, who retired as an EMS supervisor, started with the city as a certified paramedic in 1984.

To many, Guth was a familiar face at the city's festivals and ceremonies, and it wasn't unusual for him to run into someone he had treated who recalled his gentle demeanor and calm disposition.

Pen Argyl police Chief Dave Strawn, a former Bethlehem officer, recalled responding to a call to Mechanic Street, where he and Guth struggled to bring a stabbing victim down a narrow staircase. Strawn told the man he was about to die and needed to tell him who the attacker was. Guth told the victim he would live and frantically worked to help him.

"Billy was trying to save his life," Strawn said. "He wasn't going to give up."

But, colleagues say, Guth had just as much compassion in the little moments. A paramedic recently shared a story with DiLuzio about Guth's response to a call for a mother who had no car but wanted to get her daughter to the hospital for a throbbing earache.

Some grumbled about using an ambulance for a simple earache, but Guth said any time a child is in pain is an emergency. He wrapped her in a blanket and assured her she would be all right. The next day, the mother thanked him with a meal of rice and beans.

"The city of Bethlehem was a better place because of people like Billy," DiLuzio said.

Mayor Robert Donchez said Guth's love of the city was only eclipsed by his love of his family -- he leaves behind his wife, Mary, and daughter, Sarah. The mayor called Guth an amiable guy who always had a smile on his face.

"He would lift your spirits," Donchez said.

And promote holiday spirit. During about the last five years, Guth became the public face for the Christmas City during the annual tree-lighting ceremony at Payrow Plaza with a Santa hat perched upon his head. As chairman of the Christmas City tree-lighting ceremony committee, Guth helped organize the annual event.

The affable emcee of the ceremony, Guth also handled the logistics. A planner, he made sure parking spots were cordoned off for the media, the fire engine carrying Santa arrived on time and attended to other details.

"What was great about Billy was he was not a last-minute guy," said Lynn Cunningham, a senior vice president at the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce. "He needed all his ducks in a row. Long in advance of the ceremony, he had to make sure everything was taken care of."

Which brings her to the portable toilet story. Cunningham said she resented ordering them for the tree-lighting ceremony when perfectly good toilets were next door at the library and City Hall. She would always wait until the last minute and, when Guth became the chairman, he preempted her.

"He couldn't handle the wait and ordered them ..." Cunningham said, laughing at the memory. "He was larger than life, such a good personality. I can't say enough good things about him."

It's that disciplined planner and his light touch, even in the most stressful situations, that people seem to remember most about Guth. Perhaps that's the reason Guth was among those called to help the grief-stricken officers in 2011 when Freemansburg police officer Robert Lasso was shot and killed.

Bruneio, whose father was the Freemansburg police chief, called the man who saved his daughter's life to come and be with the officers gathering at the hospital with Lasso's family.

"I remember walking down the hospital hallway and my eyes went right to him," Bruneio said. "He was like my guardian angel."

FUNERAL SERVICES

Billy Guth Jr.'s viewing will be held at 4 to 8 p.m. Friday at Downing Funeral Home, 1002 W. Broad St. in Bethlehem. A viewing and service will be held beginning at 8 a.m. Saturday at Christ Church UCC with burial to follow in Holy Savior Cemetery.

Parking restrictions Friday are from 3 to 9 p.m. on West Broad Street between Eighth and 10th avenues and on Ninth Avenue from West Broad to Schaffer Street.

Parking will be restricted and several streets closed to traffic Saturday from Center to East Church streets and on East Broad and East Market streets between New and High streets.

Copyright 2015 - The Morning Call (Allentown, Pa.)