Services for man who died at Rangers game

BROWNWOOD, Texas -- Shannon Stone loved joking around with his pals. He loved giving nicknames to his colleagues. And he loved being a fireman, the job he'd wanted since he was a kid.

Yet what this tall, smiling 39-year-old loved most were baseball and his family, especially his 6-year-old son, Cooper.

So the fact Stone died while taking Cooper to a Texas Rangers game -- and, worse still, while reaching to catch a baseball thrown by the boy's favorite player, Josh Hamilton -- was hardly mentioned during his memorial service yesterday.

Instead, the focus was on how much joy he brought to so many people, and he was laid to rest with all the formality of a firefighter who died in the line of duty.

"They really, really captured the essence of what he was -- a really good guy with a good sense of humor," said Johnson County Sheriff's Sgt. Ron Russek II, who knew Stone for more than 20 years and worked with his father and brother. More than 1,000 people filled the First United Methodist Church, the majority of them firefighters, police officers and other emergency workers from across Texas. After an hour-long service that Russek described as having "probably more laughter than tears," the officers lined up in rows for an emotional procession to the cemetery eight miles away.

The procession was led by Stone's widow, Jenny, walking hand-in-hand with Cooper. About 60 emergency vehicles joined the procession for the long, slow walk.

Stone was with the Brownwood Fire Department for 18 years, rising to the rank of lieutenant.

Last Thursday, Stone took Cooper to Rangers Ballpark for a game against the Oakland A's. They even stopped to buy the boy a new glove, and sat in left field, where Hamilton plays.

In the second inning, Hamilton threw them a foul ball. Stone reached for the ball but fell headfirst through a gap about 20 feet onto concrete, with Cooper watching. Witnesses said Stone was conscious after landing and sounded worried about Cooper being left alone. Stone was pronounced dead within an hour; an autopsy ruled the cause as blunt force trauma from the fall.

Team officials were expected to be among those inside the church for the private memorial. In keeping with the family's wishes, the team did not say who was coming, and they did not speak to reporters.

The only mention of the circumstances surrounding Stone's death during the service was a reference to Stone visiting his parents in Cleburne on the way to the game, Russek said.

"He spent about two or three hours with them before he went to the game. Thank God for that," Russek said.