Longtime firefighter fondly remembered
By Michelle Knight knight@theacorn.com

Joe Luna

More than 700 people filled an Oxnard church last week to say goodbye to retired Ventura County firefighter Joe Luna.

For more than a decade, Luna was the public face and voice of the fire department, working out of the department's headquarters in Camarillo. The bilingual public information officer, who retired last year, died March 19 after a battle with cancer. He was 60.

Fire Chief Bob Roper, who'd known Luna for 30 years, said he was a gregarious, unassuming man who made friends easily.

"Joe was an outstanding person from the standpoint of what you saw was what you got," Roper said. "He was just a very happy guy, generally, with life."

Luna's 32-year career with the department took him to fire stations across the southwestern portion of the county, from Port Hueneme to Oak View. He served as the department's Spanish and English spokesperson from 1995 until his retirement in March of last year.

Luna was known for leading the Spark of Love holiday toy drive for underprivileged children.

Tom Kruschke began working for the department about the same time Luna hired on. He said Luna's death comes at an especially tragic time.

"He had retirement in front of him, and that's been taken away from him and his family," Kruschke said.

"Joe was a great guy, a fun guy to work with. He was a people person. Everybody was Joe's friend, and Joe was everybody's friend."

Luna leaves his wife, Terri, and their three adult children, Jessica, Joseph and Eric.