SMITHFIELD -- Had George Crocker attended his own funeral, close friend Gary Wood felt sure the 32-year-old firefighter would have had a simple message for those mourning his loss.

“If he could see all that was being done today in his honor, I think he would have said, ‘Son, y’all have really done this thing up good,” Wood said.

The remark drew laughter from family and friends, including hundreds of firefighters, EMS workers and police officers from more than two dozen departments in Wake and Johnston counties. Crocker, who had been chief of Pine Level’s fire department since November, was laid to rest in his native town last Wednesday after a funeral in the Paul A. Johnston Auditorium at Johnston Community College.

“It’s with heavy hearts that we mourn the loss of a friend and fellow firefighter,” Wood said during the service. “His boyish, care-free spirit was hard to resist. His mannerisms and his way with words just made you smile.”

Crocker died suddenly June 22 at his home in Clayton’s Riverwood subdivision. Authorities learned of Crocker’s death when his fiancé, Star Webster, called 9-1-1 after she found him unresponsive in their home on Buchanan Lane.

Crocker’s death came as a shock to the Town of Pine Level, where he had been a firefighter for the past decade. A day after his passing, a somber gathering of his colleagues struggled to contain their sorrow.

“It’s a sad occasion,” said Eddie Lawhorn, assistant fire chief in Pine Level.

Those sentiments were reflected at Crocker’s funeral in the remarks made by Wood, Selma Fire Chief Phillip McDaniel and Raleigh Fire Chief John McGrath. In addition to serving as Pine Level’s fire chief, Crocker was a career firefighter with Raleigh’s Engine No. 12.

“There are no words to diminish the pain of losing of a loved one,” McGrath said. “George was a giver. You’d be hard-pressed to find someone who didn’t think of him as a good firefighter. We’re all enriched for having been in his presence.”

Through their pain, colleagues found the strength to celebrate the qualities they said made Crocker special: character, commitment, courage, friendship, integrity and pride.

“But the last thing on the list is really the first thing that came to my mind in thinking about George,” Wood said. “He was a role model.”

Paraphrasing a verse from Titus 2, Wood said Crocker “set the example by doing good.” “That sums him up in a nutshell,” he said. “George tried real hard to share his firefighting skills with many people. He could teach you how to fight fire safely but aggressively. He really set the standard for us all.”

McDaniel, who served as fire chief in Pine Level until November, said Crocker’s death devastated his colleagues. “There are so many things we’ve lost in his passing,” he said. “We’ve lost a friend, we’ve lost laughs, we’ve lost experienced leadership, and we’ve lost a part of our heart and soul that we’ll never get back.”