By Lindell Kay
The Daily News

Photo Courtesy of Onslow County Fire Marshall Deputy Steven Boehm(left) and Firefighter Gene Thomas were killed Saturday.

JACKSONVILLE, N.C. — Deputies with the Onslow County Sheriff's Department are usually a lively group of men and women who deal with their stressful jobs by laughing and joking as much as they can. Even Sheriff Ed Brown loves to play practical jokes and is normally ready for a good laugh at his own expense.

However, the mood around the Sheriff's Department was noticeably different Monday. The laughs, the good-natured ribbing and tales of past adventures were not heard in the halls and offices at 701 Mill Ave.

Deputy Steve Boehm was the first North Carolina law enforcement officer killed on the job this year and only the second deputy in Onslow County history to die performing his duty.

Boehm, 36, and Verona volunteer firefighter Gene Thomas, 51, were both killed on U.S. 17 early Saturday morning. They had responded to a wreck attributed in part to low visibility on the highway caused by smoke from a smoldering Camp Lejeune fire.

Folks at the Verona VFD were, likewise, struggling to come to grips with their loss.

"We are not dealing real well at all," said Capt. Kevin Davis with the Verona VFD. "But Gene would want us to pick ourselves up and be ready for the next alarm."

Overcoming the grief will not be easy for the fire department, though, since it is practically a family institution.

One of Thomas' brothers is the chief, the other the assistant chief. His mother is the secretary and his father is one of the founders the department.

"We have all been hit hard by this, but Gene's family has lost a firefighter and a son and brother," Davis said. "Verona is as much a family as a fire department."

Firefighters with the Rhodestown Road Volunteer Fire Department said Saturday's tragedy has them reliving what happened to them last year.

Two Rhodestown firefighters were killed on Catherine Lake Road in March 2007, when their pumper truck overturned en route to a structure fire. Firefighters Billy Harold Williams, 45, and Brandon Michael Whimple, 19, both of Jacksonville, died at the scene.

"You never really heal," said Capt. Ron Brobst with Rhodestown VFD.

Brobst said that when he heard the call go out on the radio Saturday morning about Gene Thomas, he prayed he heard it incorrectly.

"But my worst fears were confirmed," he said. "I know they are family over at Verona and we feel for them. Every day I drive past the two crosses on the side of the road where our men died. It is a sight that I never get used to."

Maj. Wes Cowan — Boehm's direct supervisor in the Sheriff's Department — said he will never get used to Boehm not being around.

"Steve was the same age as my kid," Cowan said. "He was like a son to me."

Cowan said Boehm never complained and always gave his best to the job.

"All I ever had to say was 'Steve, this is what I need,'" Cowan said. "I never questioned his judgment."

Cowan had been working on Boehm's evaluation form last week.

He finished it Monday. Words like "excellent," "outstanding" and "selfless" had already been used.

Cowan finished the form with this remark about Boehm, "His last decision to help a person in need was the ultimate decision."

Boehm joins deputy Jerry Van Barber as the only two deputies to die in the line of duty in Onslow County history. Barber died Nov. 6, 1976, killed during a traffic stop.

"He stopped on Johnson Boulevard to help a Jacksonville police officer that had pulled over a drunk driver," Brown said. "Another drunk driver came along and hit Jerry, pinning him against his vehicle."

The Jacksonville Police Department has lost two officers on the job. Terry Lanier was knifed to death May 11, 1979, while apprehending a suspect, and Bill Whitehead was ambushed and killed May 28, 1981.

Copyright 2008 The Daily News