A week-long public outpouring of sadness and sympathy over the death of Surry County Emergency Services Director John Shelton dominated a meeting of the Mount Airy Board of Commissioners in which Shelton was hailed as someone irreplaceable.
“I’ve never met anybody who gave so much to this community and region that he did,” city Fire Chief Zane Poindexter said in special remarks during Thursday night’s session in the Municipal Building. Poindexter officially had ventured to a podium to present the annual Mount Airy Fire Department report, but first spoke about the late county official.
Shelton, 67, had been found dead last Sunday night at his home in Flat Rock from an undisclosed cause. After starting as a paramedic in 1977, he became head of the Surry Emergency Medical Service in 1985, and more recently also served as county medical examiner in addition to his role as emergency services director.
All during the week since his passing, the popular public safety official has been lauded for his dedicated expertise not only in the local EMS realm but as a recognized regional and state expert in areas including disaster preparedness and response.
And that continued Thursday night with comments by the fire chief and other city officials in tribute to Shelton. The tone for this was set with Mayor Pro Tem/Commissioner Ron Niland asking for a moment of silence in his memory to begin the meeting, “for our good friend, Johnny Shelton,” Niland said in prefacing this.
“Many of us have had many dealings with Johnny over the years,” added the mayor pro tem, whose association with Shelton dates to Niland’s days as a city manager in the 1990s.
Love for community
Poindexter, the fire chief, recalled how he first met Shelton at age 19 after Poindexter had joined the Dobson Rescue Squad.
“And he was one of the first people I ever met on a call,” the chief said of a man credited with saving 140 lives during his public safety career.
“He was a larger-than-life presence then and he remained in that position,” Poindexter said of the 29 years that have elapsed since. “He was still exactly the same person he was then.”
Poindexter and others say they will remember not only John Shelton’s technical know-how in emergency services, but the genuine sense of caring he exhibited for his lifelong home of Surry County.
City Manager Barbara Jones cited one example of that, involving a fluoride spill at F.G. Doggett Water Plant in May 2011 which temporarily contaminated the municipal water supply.
Shelton sprang into action to line up sampling kits from Greensboro and otherwise help Mount Airy through that crisis, Jones remembered.
“He’s always been so helpful to this city,” she said, calling Shelton’s death “a great loss to the community.”
“It’s been such a tragedy and such a loss for everybody,” Commissioner Steve Yokeley agreed. “He will be missed.”
Poindexter said that after those long-ago days when he was a teen member of a rescue squad, Shelton continued to provide support during the more than 10 years Poindexter has served as fire chief. This included guidance Shelton provided when the Mount Airy Fire Department began responding to all medical calls in the city in 2010 along with its main function.
“He’s always been everything I ever needed in somebody to go to whenever you needed anything you could think of,” Poindexter said in summary. “He was the best resource you could possibly have.”
Impossible to replace?
Thursday night’s remarks crisscrossed county lines due to the presence of Larry Johnson, who represents the Mount Airy District on the Surry Board of Commissioners and occasionally attends city council meetings.
“Amen to Zane’s comments,” Johnson said during a public forum, acknowledging that “since Sunday night it’s been tough on everybody.”
He said three people have been appointed by the county on an interim basis to fill Shelton’s many responsibilities. “What a great loss.”
Poindexter suggested that it will be impossible to replace John Shelton given the abilities he possessed.
“The amount of information that was lost Sunday night I don’t think we’ll be able to obtain again.”
Johnson referred to the fact that a private funeral service had been planned for Shelton, rather than a public event sure to attract a huge turnout in the face of present COVID-19 limitations on gatherings.
It would have even been difficult to even hold a service outside the county under that scenario, the Surry commissioner believes.
City Commissioner Marie Wood referred to the late public safety official in a prayer Thursday night in which she lamented the loss of “a leader in our community.”
Wood also mentioned the impact on those closest to John Shelton in urging divine comfort for them:
“Please be with his family, friends and co-workers during this difficult time.”
Source: https://www.mtairynews.com
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