Ginger Hand didn’t worry about her husband, Joey Hand, not coming home from his shift as a Meridian Fire Department fireman. She knew he was in good, safe, capable hands and that her husband had the best fireman in the department looking over him.

    “If you look up the word fireman in the dictionary I wouldn’t be surprised if you saw TD’s picture beside the definition,” said Hand, who is the fire prevention specialist for the MFD. “He was the best and I was glad Joey got to work with him.”

    T. D. “Bowser” Rowell lost his battle with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) – also referred to as Lou Gehrig’s disease. Friday morning friends, family, firemen from the MFD and city and county officials gathered at Barham Family Funeral Home on Highway 39 North to bid farewell to the longtime firefighter.

    A procession of flashing lights slowly moved through Meridian just after 11 a.m., with an American flag draping Rowell’s casket, which was carried by a fire engine.

    The line of cars and emergency vehicles passed Station 1 and underneath a cross of fire ladders from the two department ladder company trucks, up Eighth Street to Highway 19 North and toward Collinsville. The procession ended on Hamrick Road, where Rowell was laid to rest amid the sound of bagpipes.

    MFD Chief Anthony Clayton found it difficult to put into words what Rowell, whose firefighting career spanned 25 years, has meant to the department both as a firefighter and as a friend.

    “We are brothers,” Clayton said quietly. “I’m hurting and will hurt for a long time. He never wanted to use this condition as an excuse to not work, but eventually he couldn’t do the job. He was the best.”

    Mayor Cheri Barry attended the visitation Thursday evening but had to miss the Friday services because of out of town commitments. She did say Thursday that the MFD will be hard pressed to find another person like Rowell.

    “He was such an important part of the department for a long time,” Barry said. “Those kinds of people don’t come along every day. They are unique and that is why I think he will be remembered for so long.”