Honoring a legacy of service for a life cut short by a tragic accident.

The Keystone Heights community came together Sunday to pay their respects to 23-year-old Jacksonville Firefighter Colton Tibbetts, who died in a car crash this week.

The church was so full they needed an overflow room that was also standing room only, and it wasn’t just his fellow firefighters who came to say goodbye.

“He just has that impact on everybody,” said Keystone Heights Junior-Senior High School Principal Laurie Burke. “Such a positive impact.”

Burke told First Coast News Tibbetts was a senior when she took over as principal at Keystone Heights Junior-Senior High.

However, she says one of her fondest memories of Tibbetts actually came after he graduated – on the sidelines of a high school football game.

“We had such a good conversation when you graduate and you’re an adult and you don’t know what you’re going to do when you grow up and you’re trying to figure it out after school,” said Burke.

It didn’t take long after that conversation for Tibbetts to figure it out, as he joined Jacksonville Fire Rescue to become a fourth generation firefighter.

Tibbetts was promoted to rescue engineer just months before the crash.

“I grew up here, and I know exactly what this means and we support each other, we pull together and this is big,” said Burke.

Burke was one of a crowd of people from Keystone Heights who came to pay their respects.

The funeral itself was just a piece of the tribute to Tibbetts’ legacy, as Jacksonville Fire Rescue shared video of the procession, saying agencies lined the streets from St. Johns County to Starke with silent salutes.

“He just had an impact to draw others in,” said Burke. “Everybody liked Colton, just loved him. He made you feel important and special.”

Jacksonville Fire Rescue shared the following statement after the funeral:

“Today, we laid Engineer Colton Tibbetts to rest.

You could see his impact in the people who came to pay their respects. 

Colton came from a strong foundation, a family that built a legacy in the fire service, and when it was his turn, he stepped into it with purpose. He worked hard, earned his place, and became someone his crew could rely on.

They trusted him because he had their back, and in this profession, that means everything.

That is how he will be remembered.

Colton, it was an honor.”