Brother, fellow firefighters remember Belleville man killed in ATV rollover
Family and friends of Robert Schield are remembering the retired firefighter for his service to the community, his ingenuity and his generosity with others.
Schield, 48, was killed when his all-terrain vehicle rolled over and landed on him Monday evening. He was riding the ATV in the wooded area of his property on Clearwater Drive in Belleville.
Schield’s brother, Belleville Fire Department Battalion Chief Randy Schield, swallowed hard several times as he talked about the accident and his loss.
“He was my little brother. He was my best friend,” he said. “He is seven years younger than me and, growing up, he always followed me around. He wanted to be with me.
“This continued all of the way up until I became a firefighter, nearly 30 years ago.”
Robert Schield began working as a freelance photographer, keeping an police scanner close, then selling photos from emergency scenes to his clients, which included the Belleville News-Democrat. But he learned to be a firefighter himself during a four-year stint in the U.S. Navy and had a 20 year career with the East St. Louis Fire Department.
Schield retired young to pursue expansion of his own company, Fire Cam, which designed body and helmet cameras for use by firefighters and police officers.
According to an 2015 article in the News-Democrat, Schield founded the company in 2008 and had clients throughout the United States and in the United Kingdom. The shooting death of Michael Brown Jr. in Ferguson, Missouri by a police officer created a 20% surge in demand for his cameras, Shield told the newspaper at the time.
More recently, Schield was developing drone cameras as well, his brother said.
“He was such a driven person and always had a plan,” Randy Schield said of his younger brother.
News of the accident came to Randy Schield in a text from his son, who also is a Belleville firefighter.
“He was working that night and heard a call that was dispatched to the street where his Uncle Robbie lived,” Schield said. “He called to ask me for his address and when I told him, he told me an ATV was on a person and the person was not responding.”
Emergency workers at the scene confirmed to Schield that it was his brother under the ATV and that he didn’t survive.
“A police officer came up to me and hugged me. I about fell in the street,” Schield said. “My little brother — the one who would light up any room he was in — was gone.”
Robert Schield had used the ATV frequently, said his brother, who was at a loss for how he could have lost control of it.
“I was at the location where he wrecked. It’s kind of weird. There’s a big ravine and creek there,” he said. “I don’t know if there was overgrown brush there or if low light was a problem and he turned where he thought the turn was. ... He knew every stretch of the way. That’s why it’s weird. I don’t know what happened.”
With the help of other members of the fire department, Schield said he retrieved the ATV from the ravine and “it started right up and I drove it back.”
The Schield brothers were frequent fishing partners. Randy Schield said the last text he got from his brother was about the fishing trip the two had planned for next week.
“He was everybody’s friend. My brother would give you the shirt off his back. That’s the kind of guy he was,” Schield said. “I will never be the same. But, I am going to have to deal with my grief and move on. There will always be reminders of him with me.
“I am going to miss the hell out of him. He was my best friend.”
Schield also is survived by his wife, Jamie, and two children, one of which is 21 and another who is still in high school.
East St. Louis Fire Chief Jason Blackmon said the community of firefighters lost “a good man” who had a tremendous love for fire service and helping people.
“He was a fun-loving and just a very jovial person. He was a friend. He wanted the best for firefighters around the country,” Blackmon said. “He will be missed by whoever interacted with him and got to know the man.”
Kevin Manso, a fellow firefighter in East St. Louis, paused when asked to talk about Schield.
“He was a good friend, a brother, a firefighter,” he said, stopping to gather himself. “I am kind of bummed out right now. He is gone too soon. ...Man, what a loss.”
Visitation for Schield is scheduled at Zion Lutheran Church in Belleville from 4-8 p.m. Sunday. Funeral will be at 11 a.m. Monday with burial following at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in St. Louis. Only family and a color guard will be allowed at the burial site.
This story was originally published September 11, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
