EAST SENECA, N.Y. (WKBW) — A flag flies at half-staff, and a memorial sits in the window of the East Seneca Volunteer Fire Company, where friends, family and fellow firefighters are mourning the loss of Jay Mazurkiewicz, a long-time firefighter and dedicated life member who died at the age of 56 on Wednesday.
Mazurkiewicz passed after complications from infections following a procedure, according to his family. He leaves behind a wife and two children.
"Aside from all of his firefighting, dispatching and emergency services, he was the best family man and dad. His love and care for the people around him was unmatched," his daughter Allie said in a statement.
Bob Jeziorowski, a firefighter with the East Seneca Volunteer Fire Company and a close friend of Mazurkiewicz for close to 40 years, said Jay was respected across Western New York and the state — not just as a firefighter, but as a fire instructor and dispatcher.
"A great family man. Definitely a great friend, a teacher, a mentor," Jeziorowski said.n "Jay is a fireman's fireman. Every fireman should strive to want the knowledge that he had, and he sought after. That made him a better fireman," Jeziorowski said.
WATCH: WNY community mourns the loss of long-time firefighter Jay Mazurkiewicz
Noah Locher, chief of the East Seneca Volunteer Fire Company, echoed that sentiment.
"Jay is a very hard worker; he's just really a good dude, always there for somebody; he'd give you the shirt off his back," Locher said.
WKBW first began following Mazurkiewicz's journey in 2024, when he was waiting for a life-saving liver transplant. That gift finally came in May of last year. Though he endured medical setbacks and unimaginable challenges, he never stopped fighting.
That dedication was honored in a powerful way earlier this month, when more than 200 firefighters from 37 departments formed a procession that drove past his home while he was in hospice care.
"Almost everyone in every fire department in this county at least had one or two other people that knew Jay, and it was kind of like if they couldn't make the upcoming wake or funeral, they would at least show their appreciation for what he's done for the fire service, and as a friend," Jeziorowski said.
Mazurkiewicz was known for his motto: "Press on." Special stickers bearing that will be made in his memory.
"Just the fact that he wanted everyone to succeed, as a fireman and in life, I think that's how his legacy is going to pan out," Jeziorowski said.
