Firefighters, deputies and EMS personnel join family and friends in saying good-bye to Brody
Photo courtesy Khristi Sansone Jacquin, Pontiac / Price Place VFD Firetrucks and other emergency vehicles, led by the Ozark County Sheriff’s Department, formed a procession Saturday to escort Brody Shelby’s family from their Spring Creek-area home to Grace Baptist Church, where the 9-year-old boy’s memorial service was held.
Photo courtesy KY3.com Brody Shelby’s memorial service concluded with a firefighter’s bell ceremony conducted by Ozark County Honor Guard members, from left, Sarah More, Erin Overbee, Dawn Joslin, John Overbee (behind Joslin) and Dan Janes; they are also firefighters with the Timber Knob VFD. Then James Walley Jr., Brody’s stepdad, also a member of the honor guard as well as the Theodosia Area VFD, right, responded to the Ozark County Sheriff’s Department dispatcher’s radio call in the end-of-watch ceremony, which was broadcast over the police radio and was heard within the church.
Nine-year-old Brody Shelby was honored Saturday by friends, family and a large group of area firefighters and other emergency personnel in a memorial service at Grace Baptist Church west of Gainesville.
Brody, the son of Bobbie Jo Shelby and the stepson of James E. Walley Jr, a firefighter with the Theodosia Area Volunteer Fire Department, died Oct. 31 at his home from complications of a brain tumor. A procession of firetrucks and emergency vehicles accompanied the transfer of his body that night from the family’s Spring Creek-area home off Highway 160 to Clinkingbeard Funeral Home in Gainesville.
Brody is also the son of Chad Shelby of Forsyth.
The family was escorted to the church Saturday afternoon from their home by another long line of firetrucks from several area fire departments that came from as far away as Springfield and Gamaliel, Arkansas. Ozark County Sheriff’s Department vehicles led the procession, which also included Ozark County Ambulance District vehicles. Colorful balloons bobbed in the air outside the church as the procession arrived.
During Brody’s year-long battle with cancer – his third fight against cancer during his short life – he had been made an honorary firefighter with the Springfield Fire Department; he was also an honorary chief with the Timber Knob VFD and other departments.
Grace Baptist pastor Nathan Phenix, who presided over the memorial service, recalled Brody’s “million-dollar smile. . . . It took your attention,” according to KY3 television reporter Liam Garrity, who attended the service and filed a report that was broadcast Saturday and can be viewed on KY3.com.
In Garrity’s video report, Phenix says, “Live today for the fullest; he’s done that. He set an example on how to do that, under some of the worst circumstances. So if he could do that, it tries to inspire me more to live every day to the fullest.”
The service concluded with a firefighter bell ceremony conducted by the Ozark County Honor Guard. Then came the end-of-watch radio call; audio of the call is shared in a post on the Timber Knob VFD’s Facebook page.
Following tradition, the Ozark County Sheriff’s Department dispatcher called three times over the police radio for “Firefighter Brody Shelby.”
There was no response to the calls until Walley, Brody’s stepdad and a member of the honor guard, stood at the pulpit and answered, “Firefighter Brody Shelby is out of service.”
The dispatcher acknowledged the response, answering, “Firefighter Brody Shelby, end of watch, 10-31-21. Rest easy. We have it from here.”