Fire trucks, rescue vehicles and ambulances from all over the region lined Gloucester’s Main Street on Sunday as Gloucester Volunteer Fire and Rescue Squad said goodbye to one of its own—Chief Andy James, who died on Thursday, April 23, at his Ware River home.
Unable to pay their respects during a regular funeral service because of the current pandemic situation, firefighters decided to send off their beloved former chief in style, with ladder trucks from six different companies forming arches over the roadway and the lights from dozens of emergency vehicles flashing a solemn farewell.
Around 65 vehicles representing 15 different departments were angled along Main Street, leaving a single lane open as the hearse and family vehicles proceeded slowly down Main Street, escorted by Gloucester County Sheriff’s Office and Engine 10, the department’s first-due truck (the department’s primary response vehicle, the one that’s called first if needed).
The “Firefighter’s Last Call” was made over GVFRS radios by Gloucester County dispatch as people stood silently paying their respects until the procession had left Main Street to make its way to Ware Neck, where James was interred at Singleton United Methodist Church.
Current GVFRS Chief J.D. Clements said the department had felt it needed to have some kind of ceremony to mark the passing of someone who had been such an influential, respected, and well-loved member for nearly three decades.
“Andy was truly a people person,” he said.
Whether it was through his business, GVFRS, his passion for hunting and fishing, or his time spent coaching Little League, James touched people in a way that very few people are able to do, said Clements.
A lifelong resident of Gloucester, James was a member of the GVFRS since 1964 and had served as its chief for 28 years. He was also elected to two terms on the Gloucester County Board of Supervisors, stepping down at the end of 2019. A resolution commending his service to the community was approved by the Virginia General Assembly earlier this year.
Although the department tried to keep its tribute to James as quiet as possible, he said, people nevertheless showed up. Cautioned to make sure they practiced social distancing, people still may have gotten a little too close to each other.
James “had a knack for bringing people together,” said Clements. “He did that in death as well as in life.”