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LANETT — Hearts were heavy this week at the Lanett city hall complex, especially on the northwest side of the building. That’s where the fire department is based.

Johnny Allen, the chief of the department for the past 15 years, died on Monday.

“Johnny is someone you just can’t replace,” Mayor Jamie Heard told The Valley Times-News. “We will just do the best we can without him.”

Allen was a lifelong resident of Lanett, loved his hometown and its people and was committed to do what he could to help anybody. He had grown up in an era when kids carried metal lunch boxes to school with them, many with super heroes such as The Six Million Dollar Man and The Incredible Hulk on the side. Johnny had one with the firefighters from the Emergency! TV show on the side of his. It was an early indication of a career path he’d be on one day.

“I learned so much from him,” Capt. Jacob “Tiny” Lovelace said on Friday morning. “He was the most dedicated person I have ever known. He loved Lanett and really cared about the people in this city. He wanted them to have the best service they could have. I have been with the Lanett Fire Department since 2005 and have seen this department grow exponentially under his leadership. We have some of the best vehicles and the best equipment for a town our size you can find anywhere.”

Lovelace said that Allen’s passing is something that’s really hard for everyone in the department to deal with.

“We all knew he had health problems, but he was in the office every day,” he said. “He kept going when a lot of people would have given up. We saw it as a testament to how much he loved this city and its people. Whenever he was here, we knew the people would be taken care of the right way.”

A large gathering was present for a 3 p.m. Friday afternoon memorial service in his honor at the First Baptist Church of Lanett. A large number of firefighters from the east Alabama-west Georgia region were there to show their respects. Parked outside the church were fire trucks and ambulances from Columbus, LaGrange and West Point in Georgia and Opelika, Auburn, East Alabama, Huguley, LaFayette and Cusseta on the Alabama side.

Rev. Ronnie Jordan, a former pastor at Lanett First Baptist, spoke at the service. The casket was covered by a large U.S. flag and nearby was a full length portrait of Allen in his fire chief’s uniform with a firefighter’s helmet perched on top of the large portrait.

Jordan read an obituary that had been prepared for the funeral and a City of Lanett Mayor’s Proclamation that will be announced at Monday’s city council meeting. The proclamation designates Friday, August 16, 2024 “Johnny Allen Day” in the city. Word of that drew a large round of applause from those in attendance.

William Harry followed with a beautiful solo of “Beulahland.”

Allen’s older sister, Cindy Brooks, had some personal remembrances of her brother.

“How would you define the word hero?” she asked.

She answered with the Webster’s dictionary definition and expanded on that.

“No matter what, they are always there to lend a helping hand,” she said. “Johnny loved his team, every one of them. My sister Nancy and I were well aware of that and appreciate them so much. Johnny was always so proud of his three sons. He was glad for each one to carry on his name.”

Brooks said that her brother loved being with his family.

“It was hard for him to leave them when a call came in,” she said. “But he always lived up to his responsibilities. He loved his grandchildren. too. It will be up to them to see that those memories are carried on.”

Brooks said she will never forget the fun times she had growing up with Nancy and Johnny.

“He loved going to Panama City,” she said. “I think he would spend all his money trying to win Nancy a teddy bear on the Miracle Strip. He loved dancing to the music of Michael Jackson. Johnny has had such a positive impact on the lives of so many people. I believe that God has taken him to make a positive impact on the lives of people in heaven.”

Brooks commended her brother on having shared Bible verses with his grandchildren and taught them to name each member of the Care Bears. The grandkids loved going to the fire station and getting to know the firefighters.

“He loved his Lanett Panthers and being an athletic trainer for them and for Springwood,” Brooks said. “His favorite thing was to bring Santa Claus here on Christmas Eve. I think he had to enlarge the route every year. People would call him to make sure the fire truck carrying around Santa on Christmas Eve night would come by their house the next year.”

“I started by asking how to spell hero,” Brooks said. “For me, I spell it J-O-H-N-N-Y.”

That drew a large round of applause.

During the week, the firefighters were asked to write some of their favorite remembrances of Chief Allen. Some of the comments were:

“He loved original chicken sandwiches from Burger King, as long as they had plenty of lettuce. He loved food from Newt’s as long as they had the sprinkles, but his favorite food of all was the Daniel burger. He would call you on the carpet if you ever said anything bad about a Daniel burger.”

“He loved seeing the kids’ faces light up when they saw Santa Claus on the back of the fire truck on Christmas Eve.”

“He was a father figure to all of us.”

“He left shoes that will be hard to fill, but we will do all we can to take care of Lanett the way he wanted it to be taken care of.”

Rev. Jordan said that when he first came to Lanett it didn’t take him long to find out who it was who knew everything about the town, where all the streets were and where everyone lived. One of them was Mac Langley and the other was Johnny Allen.

“Let’s be grateful for Johnny Allen,” he said. “Let’s be grateful for a life well lived and devoted to this city and its people.”

With a flotilla of Lanett police cars, fire trucks and ambulances leading the way, a most impressive funeral procession made its way from South 6th Street and up Eighth Avenue to Cherry Drive, where it took a left toward Hillcrest Cemetery, where interment took place. The long line of fire trucks and ambulances from throughout east Alabama and west Georgia made for a sight no one who saw it will never forget.