Sunday, hundreds of people paid their respects to Brownwood firefighter Lt. Shannon Stone who died after falling over a railing at the Ballpark in Arlington.
The entire Brownwood community paused one last time before the funeral Monday morning.
While media of course was not allowed in the visitation, visitors there to honor the veteran firefighter, spoke about the man so many respected, loved and looked up to, but now, will be missed by many.
Brandon Graves, a volunteer firefighter from Lake Dam is still in shock about the death.
“Everybody’s the same… it’s disbelief still,” he said.
Preparations for Lieutenant Stones funeral procession continued for most of Sunday, but paused, along with hundreds for Shannon Stone’s visitation.
Debbie Morelock, who some would consider a “station mom,” spent the day helping with the preparations for the funeral.
“It’s the first time a lot of them have seen Shannon since he’s been brought back,” she said about the visitation.
The family and community hopes to honor the man that so many can’t believe is gone.
Brownwood Mayor, Stephen Haynes knows how difficult the death is for the family.
He said, “The family of course is honoring him appropriately in celebrating his life. But it’s still difficult to accept obviously. The nature of the death and the timing of the death and the way that it happened is still very difficult for everyone, the family and the community.”
The Stone family, and family of fire fighters, had the support of hundreds at the visitation.
For one person, this death may be particularly hard to deal with. Cooper Stone, six-year-old son of Stone, was with his father before he passed and may remember his father best.
Morelock said, “He was a wonderful dad to him… He’s just a great guy and Cooper’s gonna know that. He’s gonna have a lot of fond memories of his dad, even as young as he is. It’ll be hard but he’s gonna have some great memories.”
The visitation Sunday precludes the funeral set for Monday, that will certainly hold state-wide, if not national attention.
Mayor Haynes said, “We’re expecting hundreds if not thousands to come out and support this family.”
The Brownwood Fire Department has continued to prepare for the firefighter’s funeral Monday morning. They expect nearly a hundred different fire engines from around the state to take part in the procession. It will take Shannon Stone accompanied by his closest firefighter brothers, from the funeral to the his final resting place.
