Friends, family gather to mourn loss of Henderson County Fire Chief

LEXINGTON, Tenn. — One community is mourning the loss of a long-serving fire chief.

Chief Joseph Murphy of the Henderson County Fire Department served for almost 30 years. He also served as a dispatcher for the sheriff’s department and director for 911.

Along with his continued hard work, he served as president of the Tennessee Fire Chiefs Association, which helped him to introduce the ‘Get Alarmed, TN!’ program which provides residents with free smoke alarms.

“A hero, a mentor, a friend, brother, granddad — just a magnificent man. A friend who exemplified courage, service, leadership, but above all faith,” said Reverend Chris Young.

On Tuesday December 17, Chief Murphy suffered a cardiac arrest. Just days later, on December 20, Chief Murphy was called home.

Friday, Chief Murphy’s loved ones gathered at the Lexington High School gymnasium to say their final goodbyes.

One close friend and colleague talked about the bond he had with Murphy sharing that the two were beyond coworkers. He also shared that, over the years, Murphy began picking up hobbies and one was rescuing cats. He tells us that he was visited by a cat the day Murphy died.

“It was about 10:30 that night, I was going to get something out of the truck and when I opened the door I seen a cat. It went up my driveway, on my sidewalk to my door. Where it sat staring at me, it never meowed, it never purred. I walked outside and pet it and I said ‘I get it Murphy, thank you,” said Chad Gilliam, administrative district chief.

Following the service, a procession led family and friends to Jones Cemetery where Murphy was laid to rest.

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