Perry celebrated the opening of the Iowa Fire Museum and Fire Prevention Education Center July 11, and a special group of visitors, the family of Fred Knell, Perry’s first fire chief, decided to pay a visit.
Brian Eiteman, the driving force behind the museum’s opening, has worked for Perry’s fire department for more than 25 years and is a fifth-generation firefighter. Eiteman said he started collecting fire memorabilia since he was 8 years old, hoping one day to share his collection with others.
Eitman took time to personally invite Fred Knell’s extended family, who flew in from all over the country to be present at the opening. He had made a connection with one of the family members, Patricia Tiedeman, several years ago when he responded to her blog post.
Tiedeman was looking for information about some of her ancestors, Fred Knell and Anna Yates Tiedeman. Eiteman responded, and the two remained in touch over the next three years.
“I knew somebody out there would have some kind of information they could provide me.” Patricia said. “And three years after I made the post, lo and behold, I get a message from Brian with all the information I was looking for.”
“I was telling [Pati] that I was starting to build a fire museum and have old pictures of Fred,” Eiteman said. “The conversation went from, ‘Hey, this is great’ to ‘When is your grand opening? I want to be there.’” And she came to the opening – along with 25 other family members, many of whom had not seen each other in years. The family stayed at the Hotel Pattee and were greeted with framed pictures of Fred Knell in each room.
“I had the reaction I thought I was going to get.,” Eiteman said. “They were very touched. I wanted this whole thing to be special for them.”
The oldest living Knell descendant, granddaughter Anna Yates Tiedeman, 96, was able to attend the family reunion and see where she grew up. Anna was born in Perry at the Fred Knell home at 2103 W. Third St.
“I’m so happy to have come along to this wonderful opening.” Anna said. “It’s so good to come back to my birthplace. It’s been so long.”
The house was also the location of an interesting, last-minute find for the museum. One day prior to the museum’s opening, a book containing letters and photographs of Fred’s parents, dating from the 1860s and ’70s, fell through the kitchen ceiling as the house was being remodeled.
“Maybe it was supposed to happen this way,” said Eiteman. “The reaction from the whole family was incredible.” Coincidentally, the family includes a museum conservator who is now scanning the book and making exact replicas for the entire extended family.
These letters and photographs will join the rest of this special collection at the Iowa Fire Museum, 1120 Second St. in Perry. The museum includes history from the entire state and will continue to build its collection.
For more information, call Eiteman at 515-865-0922.
[…] joined Perry’s fire department in 1992. He is also the department historian and curator of the Iowa Fire Museum and Fire Prevention Education Center at 1122 Second St. in downtown […]