BROWNWOOD, Texas — Shannon Stone loved joking around with his pals. He loved giving nicknames to his colleagues. And he loved being a firefighter, the job he had wanted since he was a kid.
Yet what this tall and smiling 39-year-old father loved most were baseball and his family — especially his 6-year-old son, Cooper.
Stone died of head injuries suffered when he fell while attending a Texas Rangers game with Cooper. He was reaching to catch a baseball thrown by the boy’s favorite player, Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton.
At Stone’s memorial service Monday, the focus was on how much joy he brought to so many people. He was laid to rest with all the formality of a firefighter who had died in the line of duty.
“They really, really captured the essence of what he was — a really good guy with a good sense of humor,” said Johnson County Sheriff’s Sgt. Ron Russek II, who knew Stone for more than 20 years and worked with his father and brother. “He cared about people, like a true servant.”
More than 1,000 people filled the First United Methodist Church, the majority of them firefighters, police officers and other emergency workers from across Texas.
After an hour-long service that Russek described as having “probably more laughter than tears,” the officers lined up in rows for an emotional procession to a cemetery that was 8 miles away.
A lone bagpipe player was first, followed by a firefighter carrying Stone’s helmet. Next came six men carrying Stone plain, wooden casket, folded flag on top. More pallbearers held the rest of his equipment: his fire suit, boots and jacket. Everything was loaded onto a fire truck and began, with Stone’s widow, Jenny, walking hand in hand with Cooper.
About 60 emergency vehicles from agencies across Texas joined the procession for the long, slow walk. The procession hardly went 100 yards without someone standing on the side of the road waving a U.S. flag or holding their hand over their heart — from trash collectors to farmers to workers at an insurance company to drivers deciding to pull over and show their support.
Stone was with the Brownwood Fire Department for 18 years, rising to the rank of lieutenant. He was the leader of the “A” shift, and 10 members of that crew were pallbearers.
Last Thursday, Stone took Cooper to a Rangers game in Arlington for a game against the Oakland Athletics. They stopped to buy a glove for Cooper and sat in left field, where Hamilton plays. In the second inning, Hamilton threw them a foul ball. Stone reached for the ball but fell through a gap about 20 feet onto concrete, with Cooper watching. Witnesses said Stone was conscious after landing and sounded worried about Cooper being left alone. Stone was pronounced dead within an hour; an autopsy ruled the cause as blunt force trauma from the fall.
Rangers officials were expected to be among those inside the church for the private memorial. In keeping with the family’s wishes, the team did not say who was coming and they did not speak to reporters.
Fire department chaplain David Fair read notes from family members and friends. He kept the mood light, telling funny stories and offering a top-10 list that actually had 11 items because, a relative said jokingly, Stone wasn’t the best at math.
