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LANETT — The Lanett Fire Department lost an important leader with the death of Johnny Allen back in August. The department will be losing another important leader with the retirement of its interim chief at the end of the month. Jamie Heard will be leaving the city on January 31st. He’s been with the department for the better part of 20 years.

Heard was honored at a retirement luncheon at the Jane Farrar Event Center in downtown Lanett during the noon hour on Friday.

The place was overflowing with lots of well wishers who came out to wish him a safe and happy retirement. He’s still a young man and will almost certainly have a second career in a new field.

“I hate to see him leave,” said Mayor Jamie Heard. “I’ve enjoyed working with him. As everyone here knows he and I have the same name. I found that out in an unusual way. Not long after I was on the council I received a check made out in my name. I knew something was wrong because it was a lot more than I expected to make as a council member. I asked around and was told it was for one of our firefighters. That’s how I got to know there was someone else with the city named Jamie Heard.”

That got a lot of laughs from everyone there.

Lots of firefighters and paramedics were there to wish Heard the best and to thank him for the job her did and on having been a friend to all who knew him. Not all of them were from Lanett. Firefighters and paramedics from other departments were there from other local departments, too.

A delicious home-style meal was served including fried chicken, barbecue, potato salad and cole slaw. Thea McElvy made one of her out-of-this-world Batty Crocker cakes for the occasion. She’s employed by the city and her son D.J. is with the LFD. The multi-layer cake was perfect for a retiring fire chief. It was white with the LFD colors of red, black and gold. There was a shield bering No. 803 on it and on the top was a revolving amber light. No fire truck should be without one and no firefighter’s cake should be without one either. Underneath the cake stand was some Easter basket-style grass with a tiny fire truck and tiny wax firefighters appearing to be putting out a fire.

Accompanying Heard on his big day were his wife Mandy, daughter Anslee Freeman, nine-month-old granddaughter Miller Ann Freeman and Mandy’s parents, Phil and Lynn Sheppard.

Mayor Heard presented his namesake a plaque commending him for his service to the city. “In celebration of your retirement from the City of Lanett,” it reads, “Jamie M. Heard is thanked for his outstanding and dedicated service to the City of Lanett and its citizens for over 19 years.”