Friends, family members, colleagues and peers will pay their final respects Thursday to a man who devoted his life to others through 37 years of service with the Chillicothe Fire Department.
A traditional firefighters funeral service will be conducted for Joe Rinehart, who died Monday at the age of 63. He is survived by his wife, Dana, two children and other family members. The funeral will be at 11 a.m. Thursday at Calvary Baptist Church.
A family visitation will be tonight (Wednesday) at Lindley Funeral Home with an honor guard providing a casket vigil from 6:30 until 9 p.m. The honor guard will be comprised of members of the Chillicothe Fire Department wearing formal attire. Two members will stand post at the casket and will rotate with new guards every five to seven minutes. The posting of the colors will take place at 7 p.m. At 8 p.m., there will be a uniformed salute by members from many emergency service sectors.
Rinehart, fondly referred to by his firefighters as “The Big Kahuna,” shepherded the Chillicothe Fire Department through nearly three decades. He was appointed to city service on Jan. 18, 1972, and promoted to the position of fire chief on May 14, 1979. On Dec. 1, 2008, Rinehart retired because of health reasons.
“It has been a total pleasure to have served the city government and the people of Chillicothe for the past 37 years,” Rinehart said when he announced his retirement. “Chillicothe is fortunate to have the finest personnel and equipment anywhere around, which is made possible by the citizens of Chillicothe. I will always have the utmost respect for my personnel and only wish them the best.”
Fire Chief Darrell Wright said that Rinehart was a great leader and that he had left the department in fine shape when he retired. The level of respect toward their leader was an emotion shared throughout the department.
Wright said Rinehart followed in his father’s footsteps as a Chillicothe firefighter and was a “chief from the heart.”
“He cared about the department,” Wright said. “He did things because they were right for the department. Whether it was popular or not, he stood his ground and always did what was right. That’s why he lasted so long through the years.”
He said firefighters are a tight-knit group of people and that Rinehart’s passing was “like losing a family member.”
“We lay our lives on the line everyday and you trust each other to save your life,” Wright said.
Assistant Chief Joe Darr, who has the longest tenure with the fire department first starting in 1975 and then returning in 1979 after a brief absence, said Rinehart had the qualities of a good leader.
“He was a wonderful person to work for,” Darr said. “He was always looking out for what he could do for the department and the guys. He was very easy going and he stressed the need for training.”
Assistant Chief Kevin Hoskins, who joined the fire department at the age of 22 in 1979, said that it had been an honor to work for Rinehart.
“He raised me in the fire service,” he said.
Upon his passing, Wright said the Chillicothe department has received assistance from the Funeral Response Team of the Firefighters Association of Missouri. He also noted that colleagues from the police and sheriff’s departments as well as from City Hall and peers from other communities have shown a willingness to help the local department in any way during this time.
“The outpouring of support has been great,” Wright said.
Tonight, the ambulance service from Ray County and the fire department from Wood Heights will man the station so that the local department personnel can attend and participate in the visitation ceremonies. On Thursday, the ambulance services from Linn and Caldwell counties as well as the Trenton and Carrollton fire departments will man the station.
Thursday’s service is expected to be an impressive tribute to a life lived, Wright said. Local emergency personnel from Chillicothe as well as from other areas of the state will be in attendance.
The funeral procession will be led by what is still referred to as Chief Rinehart’s pickup, a 2005 Chevrolet truck. Upon leaving the church, the procession will drive past the fire station where his father’s American flag, the one which had draped his father’s casket, will be displayed. Rinehart donated the flag to the fire department years ago and that flag is often hung from the top of the department’s aerial truck ladder on special occasions.
Fire trucks from numerous departments are expected to be part of the procession. After passing the fire station, the procession will then head north on Highway 65 to Resthaven Memorial Gardens in north Chillicothe. While the procession will continue into the cemetery, the fire apparatus vehicles will make a U-Turn and line the outer southbound lane of the highway adjacent to the cemetery.
At the gravesite, the ceremony will include the traditional playing of the bagpipe and the ringing of the bell. Mayor Chuck Haney, a former volunteer firefighter, will narrate while Tracy Bradley, a fire department engineer/EMT will ring the bell.
To end the ceremony, there will be the traditional last call, a time when all agencies will turn on their radios, pagers and other communication equipment to hear Cindy Hanavan, longtime dispatcher with the Chillicothe Police Department, issue the “last alarm assignment” for the retired chief.
To end the ceremony, it is planned that there will be a flyover by a LifeFlight helicopter.
Later that day, the Command Staff of the fire department will present Dana Rinehart with the Firefighters Flag.
During his nearly 37 years of service to the city there had been many accomplishments for Chief Rinehart. One of the most notable changes came when the fire department moved from City Hall to its current headquarters at 700 2nd Street. Dedication of that building was on Rinehart’s birthday on Aug. 16, 1982. Additionally, during his tenure, the ambulance system changed from basic life support to advanced life support. Rinehart was also at the helm during the formation of the Livingston County Ambulance District.
While employed with the city, Rinehart has served under 14 mayors, four city administrators, as well as numerous city councils.
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Friends, family members, colleagues and peers will pay their final respects Thursday to a man who devoted his life to others through 37 years of service with the Chillicothe Fire Department.
A traditional firefighters funeral service will be conducted for Joe Rinehart, who died Monday at the age of 63. He is survived by his wife, Dana, two children and other family members. The funeral will be at 11 a.m. Thursday at Calvary Baptist Church.
A family visitation will be tonight (Wednesday) at Lindley Funeral Home with an honor guard providing a casket vigil from 6:30 until 9 p.m. The honor guard will be comprised of members of the Chillicothe Fire Department wearing formal attire. Two members will stand post at the casket and will rotate with new guards every five to seven minutes. The posting of the colors will take place at 7 p.m. At 8 p.m., there will be a uniformed salute by members from many emergency service sectors.
Rinehart, fondly referred to by his firefighters as “The Big Kahuna,” shepherded the Chillicothe Fire Department through nearly three decades. He was appointed to city service on Jan. 18, 1972, and promoted to the position of fire chief on May 14, 1979. On Dec. 1, 2008, Rinehart retired because of health reasons.
“It has been a total pleasure to have served the city government and the people of Chillicothe for the past 37 years,” Rinehart said when he announced his retirement. “Chillicothe is fortunate to have the finest personnel and equipment anywhere around, which is made possible by the citizens of Chillicothe. I will always have the utmost respect for my personnel and only wish them the best.”
Fire Chief Darrell Wright said that Rinehart was a great leader and that he had left the department in fine shape when he retired. The level of respect toward their leader was an emotion shared throughout the department.
Wright said Rinehart followed in his father’s footsteps as a Chillicothe firefighter and was a “chief from the heart.”
“He cared about the department,” Wright said. “He did things because they were right for the department. Whether it was popular or not, he stood his ground and always did what was right. That’s why he lasted so long through the years.”
He said firefighters are a tight-knit group of people and that Rinehart’s passing was “like losing a family member.”
“We lay our lives on the line everyday and you trust each other to save your life,” Wright said.
Assistant Chief Joe Darr, who has the longest tenure with the fire department first starting in 1975 and then returning in 1979 after a brief absence, said Rinehart had the qualities of a good leader.
“He was a wonderful person to work for,” Darr said. “He was always looking out for what he could do for the department and the guys. He was very easy going and he stressed the need for training.”
Assistant Chief Kevin Hoskins, who joined the fire department at the age of 22 in 1979, said that it had been an honor to work for Rinehart.
“He raised me in the fire service,” he said.
Upon his passing, Wright said the Chillicothe department has received assistance from the Funeral Response Team of the Firefighters Association of Missouri. He also noted that colleagues from the police and sheriff’s departments as well as from City Hall and peers from other communities have shown a willingness to help the local department in any way during this time.
“The outpouring of support has been great,” Wright said.
Tonight, the ambulance service from Ray County and the fire department from Wood Heights will man the station so that the local department personnel can attend and participate in the visitation ceremonies. On Thursday, the ambulance services from Linn and Caldwell counties as well as the Trenton and Carrollton fire departments will man the station.
Thursday’s service is expected to be an impressive tribute to a life lived, Wright said. Local emergency personnel from Chillicothe as well as from other areas of the state will be in attendance.
The funeral procession will be led by what is still referred to as Chief Rinehart’s pickup, a 2005 Chevrolet truck. Upon leaving the church, the procession will drive past the fire station where his father’s American flag, the one which had draped his father’s casket, will be displayed. Rinehart donated the flag to the fire department years ago and that flag is often hung from the top of the department’s aerial truck ladder on special occasions.
Fire trucks from numerous departments are expected to be part of the procession. After passing the fire station, the procession will then head north on Highway 65 to Resthaven Memorial Gardens in north Chillicothe. While the procession will continue into the cemetery, the fire apparatus vehicles will make a U-Turn and line the outer southbound lane of the highway adjacent to the cemetery.
At the gravesite, the ceremony will include the traditional playing of the bagpipe and the ringing of the bell. Mayor Chuck Haney, a former volunteer firefighter, will narrate while Tracy Bradley, a fire department engineer/EMT will ring the bell.
To end the ceremony, there will be the traditional last call, a time when all agencies will turn on their radios, pagers and other communication equipment to hear Cindy Hanavan, longtime dispatcher with the Chillicothe Police Department, issue the “last alarm assignment” for the retired chief.
To end the ceremony, it is planned that there will be a flyover by a LifeFlight helicopter.
Later that day, the Command Staff of the fire department will present Dana Rinehart with the Firefighters Flag.
During his nearly 37 years of service to the city there had been many accomplishments for Chief Rinehart. One of the most notable changes came when the fire department moved from City Hall to its current headquarters at 700 2nd Street. Dedication of that building was on Rinehart’s birthday on Aug. 16, 1982. Additionally, during his tenure, the ambulance system changed from basic life support to advanced life support. Rinehart was also at the helm during the formation of the Livingston County Ambulance District.
While employed with the city, Rinehart has served under 14 mayors, four city administrators, as well as numerous city councils.
