A funeral procession leaves the memorial service where Matt Myers was honored on Monday.
Richard Parrish | The Lima News
LIMA — Hundreds of community members, family and loved ones gathered Monday at the Shawnee Alliance Church to honor the life of Shawnee Township Fire Prevention Officer and Investigator Matt Myers.
Myers, 48, died last Tuesday after a months-long fight with Adult Respiratory Distress Syndrome — a life-threatening lung condition that causes low blood oxygen. A funeral service was open to the public to celebrate the firefighter’s life.
Shawnee Township Fire Chief Todd Truesdale said at the service that Myers was devoted to his family, the community and Christianity. Myers loved to talk to anyone, always “shaking hands and kissing babies,” Truesdale joked.
“He was always known as not knowing a stranger,” Truesdale said.
Retired Shawnee Fire Chief Dave Belton said in 2002, he chose two firefighters to join the department — one being Myers. He said Myers was a “humble and kind” person who loved his work.
Truesdale said he believes Myers’ favorite part of his job as a fire prevention officer was teaching and being around children.
The chief said Myers liked to joke at work, but took his role seriously. He said when the two responded to a gas leak and Truesdale became trapped under a pile of rubble after an explosion, Myers pulled him out.
Truesdale said Myers sharing this experience has helped others learn safety practices that save lives.
Brad Taylor, pastor at Lima Community Church, where Myers and his family attended, said the man was “authentic” and “genuine,” and beloved by the community. He said the two would regularly eat at Arby’s together, and there wasn’t a single time during these visits that someone from the community did not approach Myers and speak with him.
Taylor said Myers is survived by his wife and two children. He said Myers was proud of his son for his work toward becoming a firefighter, and his daughter in her recent marriage to a firefighter at the Shawnee Fire Deparment who she met at church.
Myers received treatment at University Hospital in Cleveland, where Elmwood Primary School students sent him cards and get-well wishes, Taylor said. He said Myers — who was in and out of consciousness — and his wife asked students to send cards to other patients in the same hospital unit.
“Even when Matt was unconscious, he was shaping the lives of those around him,” Taylor said.
Taylor said Myers loved hunting, camping and fishing in Iowa. He said the man loved his dogs, Moose, Bear and Sadie, and was a devoted Christian in every aspect of his life.
Taylor said an obituary is not enough space to say everything about Myers that “needs to be said,” and he wanted to share as much as he could about the firefighter.
Myers impacted the lives of hundreds of community members, and particularly the Shawnee Fire Department, Truesdale said.
“He will not be forgotten and neither will his legacy to our department and the fire service as a whole,” Truesdale said.
