I
went to the funeral of a retired fire chief yesterday. His son is a captain for the Galveston Fire
Department. It was a full honors
affair. Ladder trucks from Texas City
and Alvin extended ladders and hung an American flag between them. Several antique restored fire trucks (Chief Brantley was an avid restorer in his
own right) as well as some industrial fire trucks (He was fire chief at one of the local plants) joined engines from Santa
Fe (Where he lived for many years)
and neighboring districts in a post-ceremony parade from the church to the
funeral home. Dozens of uniformed
personnel from the area arrived to pay their respects. We were all instructed to sit on the right
side of the sanctuary. That was quite a
sight to behold. Several of the local fire
chiefs sat on the front row. The representatives
from Santa Fe filled the next few pews.
Then the rest of the section was covered with fire fighters, EMS
technicians and paramedics, and even some police officers.
I
paid special attention to the actions of the honor guard. The Galveston guard members had worked hard
with the Santa Fe guard to pull together into a cohesive unit for the process
of guarding the casket at the wake and before the ceremony, and I couldn't have been prouder. Their hard work was evident as the guard
changes went off without a hitch and looked respectful and honorable every
time. Galveston guard leaders Cook and
Vaughan offered their assistance quietly from the background and were careful
to allow the Santa Fe group to honor Chief Brantley from a position of
leadership.
The
ceremony revealed that Chief Brantley had been a strong believer in Christ, and
because of that his family has a strong hope to see him again. Powerful songs, whimsical anecdotes, and
heartfelt sentiment reached out to family and friends with sympathy,
encouragement, and peace. One of my favorites
was something along the lines of, “I know Joe is in heaven, because if he went
to hell, he’d have the fire put out in no time.”
The
ceremony ended solemnly with the final radio call-out and the ringing of the
last call bell. The uniformed personnel
were then dismissed first, and we lined both sides of the pathway from the door
to the back of Chief Brantley’s own restored fire truck, which would carry him
on his final ride. The
uniformed personnel all stood at attention and saluted as the casket-bearers
made their way between us. And of course
there were the spine-tingling strains of GFD bagpiper James Short playing
Amazing Grace as he slowly walked away from the scene. Always an intensely emotional experience.
And what a final ride
it proved to be. All of those fire
vehicles that had waited patiently for the ceremony to end suddenly sprang to
life and joined the parade of celebration back toward the town of Santa
Fe. And the town didn’t disappoint. People lined the streets waving American flags
to pay tribute to Chief Brantley and to give him one last “thank you” for a job
well done. Cars were pulled to the side
of the road in that special show of respect only seen in small towns. In fact, I noticed at one point traffic was
so backed up on a side street that an 18 wheeler was stopped straddling a
railroad track. And as we drove further
down the road, I saw a train headed in that very direction. I haven’t heard of any altercation between
the two, so I assume that either the truck got moving in time or the train
managed to come to a stop. Trucks and
cars began to peel off and head home once we reached the funeral home. Honor guard members were there to assist the
family with last-minute details. All in
all, a fitting tribute to Chief Brantley.
1
Corinthians 15:54 says, “When the
perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with
immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: ‘Death has been
swallowed up in victory.’”
Father,
walk with Chief Brantley’s family.
Welcome him into your presence.
Amen.
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