GAUTIER - Firefighters, police and ambulance personnel turned out in their vehicles Thursday to honor Gautier firefighter Leonard Gerard Lovett, 38, in a funeral procession from Escatawpa to Central Fire Station in Gautier before his body was taken to Machpelah Cemetery in Pascagoula.
"They left the church in a procession with his body on a fire truck with two men standing by," a representative of Holder-Wells Funeral Home in Moss Point explained.
Lovett died Monday at his home in Escatawpa and more than 500 people attended his wake Wednesday night at Holder-Wells.
"He was such a fantastic individual, a devoted family man," said Gautier patrolman Dutch Konrad. "This was truly a dedicated guy who spent his life working with little kids on ball teams in Escatawpa and helping firefighters and police officers to be the best we could be at saving lives and protecting this community. He will be sorely missed."
Konrad had known and worked with Lovett for 14 years.
Lovett was a 1984 graduate of Pascagoula High School and had been a firefighter and paramedic with the Gautier Fire Department for 14 years. He also spent time with Acadian Ambulance Service, American Medical Response and the Gautier Fire Department dive team. Konrad said he taught first responder and EMT classes.
He was a Dixie Youth Baseball coach in Helena and served on the board of the Dixie Youth Baseball Program.
"This is a hard day," Konrad said Thursday morning before Lovett's body arrived for the final ringdown at Gautier's Central Fire Station near the Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College campus on Gautier-Vancleave Road. "This is going to be hard to get through."
Ocean Springs and other firefighters helped with staffing in Gautier on Thursday so that Lovett's comrades could attend his funeral.
Last call for Lovett at Central consisted of the station having his turnout gear on the ramp and sending out a fire call, calling his name and number on the emergency radio with no response. A volunteer from Gautier High School played taps.
"You have no idea how much he will be missed," Konrad said.
