The Nash County community is mourning the loss of its EMS director who drowned while off duty Saturday.

Dale Griffin, 60, drowned at a beach in Carteret County, WITN reported.

Beaufort and Harkers Island EMS and firefighters responded to the incident Fire Department was the first emergency response agency to arrive on scene. Firefighters recovered Griffin from the water and immediately initiated resuscitation efforts. Responding crews from Harkers Island also assisted with the rescue and resuscitation operation.

Despite the efforts of the responding personnel, Griffin was pronounced deceased shortly thereafter.

On Sunday, EMS, fire and police vehicles escorted Griffin  from Carteret Health Care back to Nash County. Along the way, apparatus and saluting personnel lined overpasses and along the highways.

Announcing the loss of their director, Nash County EMS officials wrote: "Dale led with experience, loyalty, humor, and a genuine love for the people around him. He believed in his employees, invested in their growth, celebrated their successes, and stood beside them during some of their hardest moments. His impact cannot be measured simply in years of service, calls answered, or accomplishments. It lives on in the people he mentored, the careers he helped shape, the patients whose lives he touched, and the department he devoted so much of himself to."

Griffin is survived by his wife and two daughters.

Funeral services are pending.