JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla. — Ian Church had only lived 41 years by the time he died. His wife, Brittany, believes he spent every second of it in service to others.
“If I had to give one adjective to Ian Church, it would be loyalty,” said Brittany Church, Ian Church’s wife, “He would have ran through a fire to protect anyone, and he just loved the city and wanted to make sure that it was safe.”
Running through fires wasn’t just part of Church’s character, but his calling. He spent three and a half years as an engineer with the Jacksonville Fire Rescue Department, after serving both with Clay County Fire Rescue and the U.S. Marine Corps. Action News Jax told you last August when JFRD shared that Church had died after a long-fought battle with cancer.
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During her conversation only with Action News Jax, Brittany Church shared that she still thinks of one of his stories of courage: saving a dog from a burning home in December 2023.
“He always just wanted to make the world a better place and let other people know that they were protected and well taken care of,” Church said.
Church has now been without her husband for nine months, working as a single mother to her and Ian’s three young kids. Recently, Ian’s former fire captain at JFRD Station 60 in Jacksonville Beach inspired her to ask the city for a memorial street sign to be placed outside of the station in his name. Church says it’s both a way to honor his legacy and poke fun at his challenge with directions.
“His captain said that we should do a street sign by our house so he’d always find his way home back to us,” said Church.
But Church feels her husband has never lost his way back in the months he’s been gone. She told Action News Jax she had asked her husband, soon before he died, to return to their family as a crow. She says she sees crows flying by her car, at the playground with their kids, and in other places whenever she’s having a rough day or feeling a strong wave of grief.
She doesn’t just miss celebrating his service fighting flames, but the fire for his family, she can still feel burning.
“He said his favorite time of the day was when he’d get off shift and come home at 7:30 in the morning and all the kids would come running out in their diapers to give him a hug,” said Church, “that’s what I miss, is my kids having their dad.”
The Jacksonville Beach City Council is meeting Monday to vote on approval for the street sign to honor Church. If it’s passed, it will go up outside the station by South Beach Park.
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