LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Jeff Wright was more than a former fire chief to the small town of West Point, Kentucky. He had a love for people and giving back to his community.
He showed that love through his decades of service at the West Point Volunteer Fire Department.
Tuesday, the West Point Fire Department shared on their Facebook page that Wright had passed away.
Yesterday a great pillar of our community and a member of our family left this world for greener pastures. Jeff was a long time member of the West Point Fire Department and Chief for many years. Words cannot express the sense of loss that our community is feeling presently. Please keep our community and his family in your prayers as this will most definitely be a difficult week. Rest In Peace Chief Wright…you will be missed.
Current chief Eddie Curl spoke with WHAS11 about Wright's life and what he meant to the department.
"He was more than being a fire chief, I mean, it's a small community. Everybody knows everybody," Curl said, surrounded by other firefighters. "I think Jeff was more of a friend than a fire chief, or he was more of a mentor to, to those of us on the fire department, and more of a friend, just to everybody in the community. Everybody loves Jeff Wright."
Wright started at the department in 1975 and became chief in 2005.
He held that role for 15 years before retiring in 2020 but was still active with the department.
"He wasn't ready to give up the entire community service. He was just ready to give up the leadership role," Curl said. "But even his leadership still shows in this department. He's been retired as chief for two years and things are basically the same. I mean, we still train the same, we still do community involvement the same way we did when Jeff was chief, and we plan on continuing."
Wright loved community involvement, especially working on raising money for the WHAS Crusade for Children.
PHOTOS | Remembering former West Point Fire Chief Jeff Wright
In 2019 Wright told Crusade for Children that he had been connected to the fundraiser for 45 years, starting with getting involved early when his father was the fire chief of their hometown.
"The first time I walked across the Crusade stage was 1962, I was six years old. I've been connected to Crusade ever since," He said during the 2019 Crusade for Children. "Crusade does mean a lot to me. I've seen where the money goes, who it goes for and it stays. One dollar given is one dollar given back out. It means a lot to me that my dollars are going back out to help the kids in Kentuckiana."
Curl said the department, friends, family and the community will give Jeff " Slick Top" Wright a "full firefighter's funeral."
The visitation is Saturday from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m, and the funeral will be Sunday at noon at Advantage/Hardy's Chapel funeral home.
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