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Dan Gayda smiled when he saw the Burbank fire crew that had come to take him home.
It had been nine months since the retired Franklin County sheriff's sergeant and volunteer for Walla Walla County Fire District 5 was diagnosed with brain cancer.
Now there was no stopping the fast-growing tumor.
Within five minutes of asking for volunteers on Friday night, Fire Chief Mike Wickstrom had a crew to drive an ambulance to pick up Gayda at Seattle's Virginia Mason Medical Center.
Gayda, 55, was happy when he saw the uniformed fire district staff members arrive to take him home.
"It was one of those moments that you will never forget," Wickstrom said.
Gayda, who worked for the sheriff's office for nearly 28 years, died Monday afternoon at his Burbank home.
Sheriff Richard Lathim said Tuesday that it seemed as though early radiation and chemotherapy treatments halted the tumor's growth for awhile, but then it grew rapidly.
Gayda retired Jan. 1 after doctors told him he couldn't continue working, thwarting his plan to work for at least 30 years.
He started as a sheriff's deputy in July 1982 and was a police dog handler and a member of the Tri-City Metro Drug Task Force during part of his career.
"He contributed a lot to this community," Lathim said.
Gayda told the Herald in December that he loved his career because he was an "adrenaline junkie," and said it's always been about "lights and sirens, big trucks and patrol cars."
He said then he was optimistic about his chances of surviving cancer. He had planned to use retirement to give more time to the Benton-Franklin Mounted Sheriff's Posse, which he belonged to for 20 years, and to focus more on the alpaca farm that he and his wife, Sheryl, started.
Gayda also took a leave of absence from his volunteer firefighter position with the Burbank fire district, where he volunteered for 10 years.
Wickstrom said Gayda, a station lieutenant, was instrumental in the fire district's training program.
"He was so steadfast, and he was always there to help," he said.
Gayda had a true volunteer spirit and was recognized several times by the fire district for going above and beyond, Wickstrom said.
He also volunteered for 10 years with the Horse Heaven Roundup Rodeo Committee.
Mike Casey, rodeo committee chairman, said Gayda was willing to do anything from sorting cattle to helping with the cowboy breakfast.
In the past, Gayda also belonged to the Blue Knights, a motorcycle group made up of law enforcement officers, and participated in a four-wheel drive club, Lathim said.
Wickstrom said fire district and sheriff's department officials will attend the funeral service in uniform to honor Gayda.
Mueller's Greenlee Funeral Home in Pasco is in charge of arrangements.
