Firefighter

humble.”

Doherty, 45, was found dead in his quarters July 8 while on duty at the Arizona Army National Guard Base. The cause of his death remains unknown. Family, friends, colleagues and strangers gathered at Christ’s Church of the Valley in Peoria Tuesday morning to honor and remember him.

Doherty, a technical-rescue technician for Phoenix fire, was a 15-year veteran of the department. He was also an Army captain who served in Iraq and Afghanistan and received a Bronze Star, along with other medals.

A highly decorated soldier and firefighter, Kalkbrenner called Doherty a “rare breed.”

One day before his death, the Phoenix Fire Department secured a promotion that would make Doherty a fire captain.

“It is comforting and appropriate that Juston Doherty will be laid to rest as a Phoenix Fire Department captain,” she said. “This man was a beloved and respected leader in the American fire service, the nation’s military and the community.”

Doherty was well loved by his family at Phoenix fire, Capt. Steve Beuerlein said.

“He was not just another firefighter,” Beuerlein said. “He was the type of firefighter we all aspired to be.”

He received a Medal of Valor from Phoenix fire after he entered a burning apartment building on his day off in shorts and flip-flops in an attempt to save trapped children. When he met a Vietnam veteran living in a run-down home, he spent a month cleaning the yard and renovating.

“Juston made our fire department a better fire department,” Beuerlein said. “He made our community a better place to live.”

When recalling his memories in Afghanistan with Doherty, Staff Sgt. Andrew Bowers said Doherty was both an honorable soldier and friend.

“He chose the tough routes. He took the hard right over the easy wrong,” he said. “Doherty was always competing against himself to be the best he could be.”

Bowers said Doherty would surprise him with candy bars during the long missions they would work together in Afghanistan.

“He passed on wisdom throughout his career. He was an Army ranger to the core. He took care of me. He took care of all of us,” Bowers said.

‘He was our rock’

Doherty played football and baseball at Trevor G. Browne High School in west Phoenix.

Michael Bennie, one of Doherty’s childhood friends, had known him for more than 40 years.

They rode — and jumped off — their bikes together as children.

In middle school, Bennie watched him chase after their school bus on the mornings he overslept.

Years later, he listened to his kids call him “Uncle Juston.”

Doherty’s deployments were the worst, Bennie said, adding that it felt as if life stopped while he was gone and everyone waited to see his infectious smile again.

“Juston was not larger than life,” he said. “He was the life. He was more than our friend. He was our rock.”

He leaves behind a fiancee and four children.

Toward the end of the service, monitors projected a slideshow of Doherty’s life as the song “God Bless the U.S.A.” by Lee Greenwood played in the background.

In the photos, Doherty is posing in front of a firetruck, extending his arms for silly selfies with his children and proposing to his fiancee.

In all the photos, that infectious smile is present on his face.