Long-time Woodstock firefighter George Brown, whose death earlier this month is being lamented statewide, was honored on Friday with the ordering of all U.S. and state flags lowered to half-staff.

Brown, who died on July 21 at the age of 73, was a past chief and lifetime member of the Muddy Brook Fire Department, as well as a U.S. Army veteran, nurse and active attendee of local veterans’ coffeehouse meetings.

Muddy Brook Fire Chief Jared Morse said Brown, who he met in 1984, was still responding to calls right up until the hours before his death. He said Brown ran the department’s engine truck, used to pump water at fire scenes.

“His last call was for a water-flow fire alarm,” Morse said. “He was down at the station in case we needed that engine truck and stayed there until the call was cleared.”

Brown, who clocked 55 years with the department, died a short time later at home after suffering a medical emergency. In Connecticut, a line-of-duty death is designated for any firefighter that dies within 24 hours of responding to a call, Morse said.

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“George was a gentleman, always there and always helpful,” he said. “The crews were always happy to see him when he showed up at the station or out at a call. I’d run into him just about every time I went to the post office.”

Gov. Ned Lamont directed the flags’ lowering for the same day a memorial service was scheduled for Brown in East Woodstock.

“Chief Brown dedicated himself to public protection, including through his military service during the Vietnam War and as a lifelong member of the Muddy Brook Fire Department,” Governor Lamont said in a Thursday press release. “His line-of-duty passing following a response to an emergency call for service is heartbreaking, and I extended my condolences to his friends, family, and colleagues in the fire department.”

Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz echoed Lamont’s praise, calling Brown a “devoted public servant and patriot.”

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Brown, a Woodstock Academy graduate, earned a nursing degree from UConn and worked for years at the Harrington Hospital’s emergency room in Massachusetts, according to his obituary. During his three-year stint in the military, Brown completed a tour of duty in Vietnam.

Fred Ruhlemann, president of the Danielson Veterans Coffeehouse, said Brown started attending the group’s weekly meetings soon after the organization was formed in 2015.

“If we needed anything done, he’d step up and volunteer every time,” Ruhlemann said.

Brown is survived by his wife, Pam, herself a vocal advocate for local veterans through her former work as an administrator at Danielson’s Quinebaug Valley Community College. The pair regularly attended the college’s annual Veterans Stand Down events, most recently in June.

Morse said the department members haven’t yet had time to fully process the loss of Brown.

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“It’s been very busy here, but next week will be tough,” he said on Thursday. “It’ll really hit we get that first call for an engine and George isn’t there to sign-on.”

Memorial donations can be made in Brown’s memory to the Muddy Brook Fire Department, P.O. Box 222, East Woodstock, CT 06244, or to the Veteran’s Coffeehouse, c/o The Putnam Elks Lodge, 64 Edmonds St, Putnam, CT 06260.

John Penney can be reached at jpenney@norwichbulletin.com or at (860) 857-6965.