Owens Fire Chief Gary Lovell and wife Teresa, who is also an Owens firefighter, were married for 37 years. They worked tirelessly for the department and for various causes, including firefighter honor guard and cancer awareness.

A photograph of a gold firefighter’s badge was posted Monday morning on the Rogersville Fire Department website.

It read: Last alarm. Chief Gary Lovell, Owens Volunteer Fire Department.

Lovell, 59, of Limestone County, died Christmas morning at Athens-Limestone Hospital after a battle with lung cancer.

Below the announcement of Lovell’s death is a quote from John 15:13, which reads: “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”

Lovell did just that. For 24 years, he served as a volunteer firefighter in the Owens community west of Athens. In December, he received an award for his years of service. Lovell joined Owens VFD in 1993 and had been chief since 2004. During his tenure, his department raised the money to buy four firetrucks, build a new fire station and twice purchase turnout gear and radios for its firefighters. The department also had a hand in getting a storm shelter built at Station 2 on Glaze Road.

In addition to the thousands of hours of service he donated to the fire service each year, Lovell was corrections officer at the Limestone County Jail for 14 years.

He was diagnosed with cancer in September.

His funeral is 2 p.m. Thursday at Limestone Chapel Funeral Home. Visitation will be 6 to 9 p.m. Wednesday at the funeral home. Lovell’s men and women, the firefighters from the Owens department, will be honorary pallbearers.

Friends remember

Elkmont Fire Chief Michael Carter considered Lovell a colleague and a friend.

“He was a good guy,” Carter said. “There are not many guys like him. He would do anything for you, and he was an all-around great person. All of the firefighters looked up to him.”

Carter said Lovell was very instrumental in the Owens VFD “being where they are now” in terms of members, equipment and trucks. He said Lovell and his wife had always been extremely great people.

“Me and Gary had a good working relationship,” Carter said. “We had the same goals as far as fire departments. We never had any problems. He could come to me or I could come to him, and we could work it out. You can’t say that about many people.”

One of Lovell’s gestures stands out in Carter’s mind. He gave a retired firetruck, bought when J.C. Toone was chief, to the Rogersville Fire Department so they could use it for cancer awareness. Rogersville firefighters painted the engine pink and named it Elna, in memory of J.C.’s wife. The pink truck appears at events in Limestone and other counties.

“Gary was always open and willing to help anybody in need,” Carter said. “His grandkids also played baseball with some of my kids, so we were friends outside of the fire department.”

Derrick Gatlin, president of the Limestone County Volunteer Fire Departments, lauded Lovell for his service to his department and to community.

“I knew Gary a long time,” he said. “He was in the fire service for over 24 years. He was a major asset not just to his department but to Limestone County as a whole.”

He said Lovell was awake and talking when he saw him in the hospital the past few nights.

Gatlin recalled Gary and Teresa’s service in the Limestone County honor guard and, when needed, the state honor guard.

He said Lovell also dedicated time for fire prevention activities.

“Anything that needed to be done and anyone who needed help, he was willing,” Gatlin said, also recalling the donation of the fire truck to Rogersville.

“He was always willing to help with emergency service or whatever a neighbor or anybody he and Teresa went there to raise money to pay medical bills or for fire service or fire education to make Limestone County a better place.”

Limestone County Sheriff Mike Blakely said Lovell gave thousands of hours and did it gladly.

“He was very involved in his community,” the sheriff said. “He didn’t just work as a corrections officer. He donated thousands of hours to the fire department.”

The Lovells’ daughter, Casey Burroughs, is a dispatcher for the Sheriff’s Office, he said.

Blakely saw Lovell in the intensive-care unit Saturday and said there was a steady stream of people visiting him, even some former jail inmates.

“The inmates respected him,” Blakely said.

One of the inmates who had been in jail for about 10 years and who was a jail trustee went to the hospital Sunday to see Lovell.

“He thought the world of Gary,” Blakely said.

Looking forward, the sheriff hopes Lovell’s close-knit family will bring peace to his survivors.

“I hate to see people go, but he went in peace, knowing his family and fiends appreciated him for what he did and loved him for who he was,” Blakely said.