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Reverend Coan Agee of Keysville, who is credited as being a founding member of the Charlotte County Rescue Squad (CCRS), passed away on Oct. 17 at the age of 90.

Agee served on the CCRS for 40 years and was one of the first cardiac techs in the county to provide advance medical care to the community, according to CCRS administrative officer Larry Newcomb.

“Coan Agee was a great man and always put the needs of others first and foremost,” said Newcomb. “Everyone on the rescue squad learned from him, and he was always there to help with anything you needed.”

Helping those in need was a normal part of  Agee’s life as he spent 63 years in the ministry.

Agee’s time in the ministry included pastoring churches in Bluefield, Amelia, Powhatan and Blairs. He retired from full-time ministry after 28 years at Ash Camp Baptist Church in Keysville.

After retirement, he continued to minister to congregations as an interim pastor of eight additional churches until 2013.

“Through example, Dad taught us to love God first, family second, and always to help others in need,” said Agee’s daughter, Annette Bennett. “He and mom passed on a strong work ethic, and the virtue of never quitting — if we agreed to do something, we were expected to see it through.”

Agee was also an active member of the Keysville Volunteer Fire Department, and current chief Lynn Duffey says that Agee was dedicated to helping the community. “He was a fine man and dedicated to whatever he did,” explained Duffey. “He gave a lot of his time to both the fire department and the rescue squad.”

According to his obituary, Agee spent 26 years on the Keysville Volunteer Fire Department. “He considered his work on the Keysville Fire Department and the Charlotte County Rescue Squad to be another mission field,” his obituary read.

To his family, the Rev. Agee was known to be a quiet man but one who was very proud of his family. “My dad was an only child, so we often joked that he didn’t really know how to interact in his big family,” said Bennett. “He typically sat silently at the dinner table just listening to all the noise his five rambunctious kids made. But he had a special bond with each one of us, and we all knew how much he loved each of us uniquely. Looking back, it is clear to us that he was dedicated to providing for us emotionally, spiritually, and financially — making sure we knew what was most important in life and were able to explore every opportunity available to us.”