A large crowd gathered Wednesday at Roswell’s Central Fire Station for a reception honoring an “ultimate hero,” a city and Chaves County firefighter who passed on a week ago after a “valiant battle” with an illness. Christopher Patrick Mann, a retired Roswell Fire Department battalion chief and a former Chaves County volunteer firefighter, was 46 when he died Aug. 8.
He had been diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease.
Mann was “the ultimate hero. He wanted to be known as a firefighter, a paramedic and someone who saved lives,” said Danny Sons, the senior pastor of the Midway Family Church, who delivered one of the speeches at the memorial service held at Grace Community Church.