Beloved Cramerton firefighter dies after battle with pancreatic cancer

A beloved Cramerton firefighter who inspired many with his determination and faith has died after a two-year battle with pancreatic cancer. Joey Pullen, who spoke with Channel 9 just last month, continued serving others until the very end, refusing to give up even after doctors told him he had only months to live.

“Until I take my last breath, I’m going to fight this, and do what I can to be here for other people,” Joey Pullen said in his last month.

Doctors diagnosed Joey Pullen with cancer two years ago. He wasn’t supposed to live long enough to grant Channel 9’s Ken Lemon interview.

“(Doctors) told me a little over a year ago, I only have three months to live,” Joey Pullen told Lemon. “And I refused to give up. I said, ‘I refuse to give up. I said I still have a purpose.’”

Even then, he knew his time was ending soon.

Lemon and Joey Pullen spoke as he received a grant at the Cramerton Fire Department to pay some of the cost of his battle with cancer.

Joey Pullen said he had one wish: “I just hope that one day I can pay it forward to other people.”

On Monday, Arthur Pullen said his brother did just that.

“I think he gave back well before that,” Arthur Pullen said.

He said, even with cancer, his brother was determined to repair heating units this winter, and it was not just for the pay.

“I said, ‘Joey, you need to be at home resting. You know, you are sick,’” Arthur Pullen said. “And he would just say, ‘I can’t go home knowing I got heat and somebody doesn’t.’”

Arthur Pullen cried over the loss of a kind and inspiring brother.

“I don’t think you will meet anyone that knew Joey, that he didn’t help in some form or fashion,” he said.

Cramerton Fire Chief Lance Foulk said Monday on the phone that Joey Pullen showed everyone how to fight against all odds.

“We had been over that, and they told him days and hours, and he lived a couple of days past their predictions,” Foulk said.

Joey Pullen, who was 56, died Friday at home with family standing around his bed, surrounded by love.

He fought hard until the end. He paid forward the debt he thought he couldn’t pay, and said people shouldn’t worry in the end.

“If I’m here today. I’m here today. If I’m here tomorrow, I’m here tomorrow. If I’m not, just know that I’m in a better place,” Joey Pullen said.

Firefighters, family, and the mayor of Cramerton were full of grief over the loss of a dear friend and a committed public servant. They said he taught them enough about living well in his last two years to encompass a lifetime of learning.

Joey Pullen’s visitation was scheduled for late Monday afternoon at Withers and Whisenant Funeral Home on Union Road in Gastonia. His funeral is at the same place starting at 1p.m. Tuesday.

Firefighters will play an active role during his funeral and burial.

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