GREENE COUNTY — A family is mourning after their father, a local deputy, lost his battle to cancer.
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As reported on News Center 7 at 11:00, Greene County Sheriff’s Deputy Chris Longfellow passed away from pancreatic cancer on Sunday.
The community gathered for a Cones with Cops fundraiser to raise money for Deputy Longfellow’s family.
The family told News Center 7’s Malik Patterson that they were overwhelmed by the number of people who showed up on Sunday.
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There were two lines wrapped around the Dairy Station. This included walk-ins and people at the drive-thru.
His son, Patrik Longfellow, said he was shocked by the turnout.
“Everything he has put out in the world as my dad, he’s receiving 10, 20, 30-fold back at this time, and we couldn’t be happier about it,” he told Patterson.
Deputy Longfellow had three children.
Their earliest memories were of their father serving the community.
Deputy Longfellow served his country and community for over 35 years. This includes the Air Force, a firefighter, and a Greene County dispatcher.
Patrik told Patterson that they always found what their dad did as exciting. He recalls the time his father was a dispatcher.
“Looking at the old, like the old 90s consoles, like this is how you all talk to each other,” said Patrik. “But, you know, I was just a little kid going, ‘What do buttons do?’ My dad’s going, ‘No, no.’”
Those early moments helped shape their family.
“Our youngest sister is a 911 dispatcher and everything else,” said Taylor Busey, his daughter. “I’m currently in the process of becoming a dispatcher, and so we’ve all tried to follow in the way that he’s done.”
Greene County Sheriff Scott Anger told Patterson on Sunday that he was also touched to see how many people came out.
“It’s just very heartwarming, and it really is what we need,” he said.
The Longfellow family lived in Lebanon. They said that after their father got off long shifts, he would still volunteer at their local school events.
That impact stayed with people years later.
“We’ve had friends from high school show up today that we haven’t seen in 10 plus years to be here to support my dad,” said Busey.
Funeral services for Deputy Longfellow are still being planned.
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