Lambeth receives last call

The dispatcher hit the tone Saturday afternoon reaching out to Lambeth Fire Department volunteer Amy Jo Lambeth. After two attempts and no response the 10-7 'out of service' code was announced. "Rest in peace" is how the call ended.

The call was made as friends, family and the brotherhood of firefighters gathered at Petty-Eastside Chapel for the funeral of a 24-year veteran of the Lambeth Volunteer Fire Department.

Lambeth, 43, died Jan. 16 in Pensacola following a battle with cancer.

Those who knew her talked about her smile and her love of life and love of helping others.

Her husband Dan said Amy Jo started going with him on fire calls when they first started dating. The couple married on May 16, 1999.

"She went with me many a night and day," Dan said. "She loved helping people."

Flomaton Fireman Jeremy Lee said he's known Amy Jo for as long as he can remember. Lee, who is now a paid and volunteer fireman in Flomaton, also serves as the assistant fire chief at Lambeth.

"She always had a smile on her face," Lee said. "We'd be at a structure fire or brush fire and look around and there she was with a bottle of water for us."

"Her smile always stood out," Lee said. "She was just a good, true volunteer and will be greatly missed. You can't beat the volunteers. If you take the volunteers away we have nothing."

Lambeth Fire Chief Terry Boutwell said he's known Amy Jo ever since she and Dan got married.

"She was a faithful member and answered every call she could," Boutwell said. "When we would go on fires, there she was handing us bottles of water."

He added that while Amy Jo didn't actually fight fires she was a key component to the fire department and could manage the water pump on the truck.

"She was there most of the time and very faithful," Boutwell said. "In volunteer fire departments we do what we can do with what we have and she was a great benefit to the department and the community."

Jenny Blancheri said she got to know Amy Jo when their children were in school together and playing T-ball together.

"She was such a nice person," Blancheri said. "She always had a smile on her face and was always encouraging. She was very positive and loved her kids and her family."

Blancheri added that Amy Jo was fully involved in her children's activities, from the ball fields and school functions to the PTO.

"We were always taking pictures of our children at every event," she said.

She said her children and Any Jo's children went to preschool together and the friendship grew.

"She was a beautiful person," Blancheri said. "We used to take girl trips to Pensacola, but we always had to be back when the kids got home. We were a close bunch and I already miss her so much."

Lambeth's funeral was held at 12:30 p.m. Saturday at Petty-Eastside Chapel Funeral Home with burial at Travelers Rest Cemetery.

She is survived by her father John (George Ann) Johnson of Walnut Hill; her mother Ruth Martin of Lawton, OK; her husband Dan Lambeth of Flomaton; one son Silas Jackson Lambeth of Flomaton; one daughter Madison Jewel Lambeth of Flomaton; one brother Bradley Ross of Albuquerque, N.M.; and one sister Sarah (Bill) Miller of Molino.