Submitted by his Wife

Jeffrey did not grow up wanting to be a firefighter. His dream was to always be a farmer. It was a family tradition that he proudly pursued. It was his passion. It wasn’t until April of 2005 that he found a new passion. When an employee of our store’s radio scanner dispatched the volunteer fire department to my grandmother’s home‚ he responded to the call as a concerned grandson and came home a volunteer firefighter.

Jeffrey was born in Wagener‚ South Carolina‚ on October 7‚ 1970. He died in Wagener‚ South Carolina‚ on August 19‚ 2007. He was the son of Edward Swartz and the late Wanda Fulmer Swartz. He was the father of Brantley and Jamie Swartz. And he was my husband.

As the wife of a volunteer firefighter‚ I didn’t know how much time he would be called away from his family. He would get up early every morning to make sure that chickens were fed. Then he would go to his second job. Jeffrey loved chicken farming‚ but it left him with lots of spare time. He filled his spare time by purchasing a convenience store. The store kept him very busy‚ but when the tones were dropped for District 16‚ he was almost always the first one to respond. Jeffrey would take every call as a learning experience. He logged every call that he responded to in a notebook. The notebook became his scrapbook. It was a document of his journey as a fireman.

He took pride in being the best firefighter that he could be. He enrolled in every class that he could take‚ complaining only about the fact that he’d miss a call because he was sitting in class. He even took courses on-line. He wanted to be the best at everything. He was.

On August 20‚ 2007‚ I entered the final call into his log book. It was the hardest thing I ever had to do.

Submitted by a Department Member

Jeffrey was a member of the Wagener Fire Department for 2 years. He showed special interest in the fire service for someone so new to the fire service.

He is survived by his wife Tammy‚ son Brantley and daughter Jamie.