Retired Livermore Fire Captain Loses Cancer Battle

LIVERMORE, CA — A beloved Livermore man who served the local community for decades has passed. Joshua Jonathan Gatkin Sr. died Aug. 25 following his fight with cancer. He was 60.

Hired with the Livermore Fire Department in 1988, he spent his time with the agency as a firefighter/paramedic before being promoted to engineer. He was also on the Hazmat team and retired in 2015 as captain for what is now the Livermore-Pleasanton Fire Department, according to his obituary.

Gatkin helped establish the EMT program at Las Positas College in Livermore, and was an instructor for the Chabot College Fire Academy for many years, the obituary said.

A leader for Boy Scout Troop 924, Gatkin taught survival skills and was "a living example of what a man of good character looks like," his obituary continued. "Many strived to be like him."

For many years Gatkin also participated in the Livermore Relay for Life, where he raised awareness and money to support the fight against cancer.

Gatkin was born and raised in New Jersey and moved to California in 1981. He studied paramedicine at Daniel Freeman (now the UCLA Paramedic Education Program) and shortly afterward started working as a paramedic in Southern California. He later relocated to the Bay Area and was hired on with Regional Ambulance Co. working as a crew chief/paramedic before being hired by the Livermore Fire Department.

Gatkin was a son, brother, husband, father, papa and uncle. He is survived by his mother, Judith Gatkin; his loving wife, Michelle Gatkin; son and daughter-in-law, Jonathan and Nicole Gatkin; his brother and sister-in-law, Steve and Carolyn Gatkin; nephew and niece Evan and Jordan Gatkin; daughter and son-in-law Amanda and Mike Pelley; grandchildren Mariah and Joshua Pelley; mother and father in-laws, Joyce and Jim Breckinridge; brother-in-law Ken Bradshaw; brother and sister in-laws Jeff and Marne Bradshaw; nephews and nieces Garrett Lindsey Bradshaw, Cash, Riley and Lovebug, as well as many loving friends.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Livermore-Pleasanton Firefighters Foundation. Checks payable to LPFF 4847 Hopyard Road, Suite 4, PMB 303, Pleasanton, Ca 94588.

Family and friends are invited to attend Gatkin's celebration of life on Friday Oct. 4, 11 a.m., at Cornerstone Fellowship, 348 North Canyons Parkway in Livermore. A reception will follow.