Friends and family are mourning the passing of 91-year-old L.B. Stacy, who died Friday.

Stacy was the fire chief in Hyden for nearly 30 years.

A New fire Engine is one of the things L.B. Stacy helped bring to Leslie county. Now family friends will say goodbye to a man that played a pivotal role in bringing fire service to the area.

Thousandsticks Fire Chief John Newell says even though L.B.. Stacy was not from Leslie County, he showed great pride in the community.

Newell says, “He became chief here somewhere around 1981 or 1982, and then he was instrumental in establishing now, what we have six departments in the county.”

Family, friends and fellow firefighters are coming from around the country to bid farewell to the longtime Hyden Fire Chief.

Scott Farler is Stacy’s grandson and a fire chief in a small town outside of Dallas, Texas. He says he was very proud of his grandfather when would come up and visit.

“I’d always go up to the fire station and I would see the things that grandpa did,” Farler says. “And I’d know he'd go on the calls and he always carried his radio with him and I knew that when they had an accident, grandpa was going to be there to help people.”

Farler says his grandfather inspired him to be a firefighter.

“I was just in awe of this man and I wanted to be able to follow in his footsteps,” Farler says.

Newell says it will be very difficult to replace a man that is in touch with the community like Stacy was.

“Losing L.B. is probably close to losing what people call a father figure,” Newell says.

Stacy’s sister, Deanna says, “He's really a great man. And he's going to be missed, so so much. It is a very, very sad day.”

The visitation for L.B. Stacy will be held at Walker Funeral Home in Hyden this evening (Monday). The funeral will begin at 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday.

Officials with the state fire commission say that L.B. Stacy was the oldest active Fire Chief in Kentucky.