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Thursday, 07 January 2010 |
By Jean Cole
Athens News-Courier
01/07/2010
Photo by Kim Rynders
Piney Chapel firefighter Gary Pitts didn’t answer roll call this morning.
The big, tall man with the perennial smile on his face died Sunday.Everyone who gathered Wednesday in New Oakland Cemetery felt his absence.
“He was the kind of person you’d want to be,” said Owens Fire Chief Gary Lovell. “I’ll miss the smile on his face and the look in his eyes. He was there to help you day or night.”
Gary Pitts, who had been with Piney Chapel Fire and Rescue for seven years and had become a captain, died of a heart attack.
As his friends, family and fellow firefighters from across the county gathered around his coffin Wednesday, someone played a recording of how the daily 911 roll call would sound without him. Each day, a 911dispatcher radios members of each of the 14 volunteer fire departments in Limestone County by ID number to make sure they are receiving transmissions. The firefighters respond by calling back their ID numbers. Wednesday’s recording, called the last call, went something like this:
“County fire to Piney Chapel 2301?” says the dispatcher, calling Piney Chapel Chief Lance Pitts, Gary’s son.
“2301,” Pitts replies, confirming the transmission.
“County fire to Piney Chapel 2302?” says the dispatcher to Assistant Capt. James Warren.
“2302” Warren replies.
“County fire to Piney Chapel 2303?” says the dispatcher, calling Capt. Gary Pitts.
No answer.
“County fire to Piney Chapel 2304?” says the dispatcher to EMS Capt. Randal Townsend.
“2304,” Townsend replies.
“County fire to Piney Chapel 2305?” says the dispatcher, calling Lt. Travis Sanders.
“2305,” Sanders replies.
The dispatcher calls Piney Chapel 2303 a second and third time, and then says, “Be advised, one member unaccounted for.”
The haunting sound of bagpipes playing “Amazing Grace” fills the crisp January air.
Then, Piney Chapel 2301 says, “His tour of duty is complete.”
The playing of the last call overwhelms the gatherers, bringing tears to their eyes.
White-gloved members of the Limestone County Firefighters Honor Guard fold the American flag that had draped the casket and give it to Gary’s widow, Candy. His firefighter helmet is handed to his son. A MedFlight helicopter flies over to honor Gary’s service to fire and rescue.
Those who knew Gary describe him as a man who never met a stranger; one who wasn’t afraid to show and speak his love for others.
“Every time Gary and Lance were at a fire together, before they left the scene, they would hug each other and say they loved each other,” recalls Owens Firefighter Teresa Lovell.
In addition to serving as a firefighter, Gary served as a deputy sheriff for the Limestone County Sheriff’s Department, was a member of the New Oakland Independent Baptist Church, founder and member of Clear Creek bluegrass gospel and the president of Piney Chapel Fire and Rescue. |
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 07 January 2010 )
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