Several emergency organizations said goodbye to their friend and colleague on Thursday.
John "JL" Lucas, a heavily involved community servant, died in a motorcycle accident on June 3. He left behind a long history of service within the county. According to his obituary, Lucas served the Moniteau County Sheriff's Office as a jailer; multiple fire departments, such as California and Clarksburg, as a firefighter; the Mid-MO Ambulance Services as an EMT; both Moniteau and Morgan counties as a 911 dispatcher; and the Missouri Department of Transportation as a crew leader. He also served as a CPR instructor and a rescue diver.
Members from the Flagman's Mission Continues arrived in California to set up a flag display honoring Lucas. This follows the organization's appearance in the community in late April to honor U.S. Army Sgt. Jonathan Hill following his death earlier this year in a car crash.
Lucas's obituary described him as "a man of many talents and boundless generosity, (who) was known and loved by many."
Mid-Mo Ambulance District Administrator Lee Kempf, California Fire Department Chief Brad Friedmeyer and Moniteau County Sheriff Tony Wheatley told the Democrat of Lucas's passion for service.
There was nothing he didn't do. I mean, he was a great EMT," Kempf said. "He always had a portable radio and it was on our frequency. And anytime he was anywhere close to a call...he would first-respond on it."
Kempf said he spent his own money to become certified as a rescue diver and traveled to the Lake of the Ozarks to learn courses.
"He had done that, simply because he thought there wasn't anybody in Moniteau County that was a certified diver," Kempf said. "He was just, I mean, he was just that selfless guy. He was always thinking about what he could do for somebody else."
Kempf said Lucas was "extremely kind-hearted," an attribute that could be seen in how he counseled elderly respondents. He said Lucas was the kind of person who often came to the aid of his co-workers if they needed help.
In an interview with the Democrat, Friedmeyer noted Lucas' dedication to others as well. He said Lucas joined the department in 2014 and that he was willing to help anybody in need of assistance.
Although Lucas worked as a jailer before Wheatley took the position as sheriff, they still knew each other as peers. Wheatley noted the impact Lucas left through the many people in attendance at his funeral.
"He was always active in the community," Wheatley said. "I heard a lot of people at the (funeral) service...telling me about how he liked to help people. Ever since he was a child he liked to help people. And he showed that with his involvement in the community, his volunteering on the fire department and working with Mid-Mo Ambulance being a first-responder and things of that (nature)."
Wheatley said Lucas completed a couple of projects with sheriff's offices, including radio installation and car repair.
"He was just an all-around genuine good person who always went to help everybody that he came in contact with," Wheatley said. "He's going to be missed."
Democrat photo/Garrett Fuller — Volunteers, led by The Flagman's Mission Continues, a nonprofit that honors fallen heroes with flag displays, helped install a couple hundred flags Wednesday along Pinto Lane and Buchanan Street to honor John J. Lucas. Lucas, who died June 3 in a motorcycle accident in Tipton, served his community in a variety of roles — from being a 911 dispatcher to firefighter to ordained minister. He was honored during a Thursday memorial service at Windmill Ridge Funeral Service, followed by a Celebration of Life at the California Fraternal Order of Eagles.