Funeral service honors Ramsey soldier, firefighter who died from injuries sustained in Afghanistan

Photos: Ramsey procession honors Army Staff Sgt. Timothy McGill

RAMSEY – The brief but distinguished life of Army Staff Sgt. Timothy McGill was celebrated Friday morning in a more than two-hour long service.

Family, friends, military comrades and fellow firefighters filled St. Paul's Church to remember the 2001 Ramsey High School graduate and find peace in his passing.

The 30-year-old died from wounds he sustained from small arms fire while serving in Afghanistan Sept. 21.

 “Tim’s spirit and generosity -- his life -- is what we celebrate today,“ Pastor John McClone told the crowd, which spilled out front where speakers amplified the service.
 
“Whether we talk about Tim the fireman … Tim the Marine … Tim the member of the National Guard, these things weren’t a job to him. They were his vocation in life. His lifestyle. Marked with a generosity of spirit that was evident in the way he lived his life. An example for us to follow.”

McGill, who enrolled in the Marines in 2001, served in Iraq in 2005, joined the Rhode Island National Guard in 2008 and earned a place with the Special Forces in 2011, was posthumously awarded the bronze star and purple heart.

Members of the military handed the medals, in boxes, to McGill’s father, Ray, who was seated in the first pew, along with Tim’s mother and two sisters, during a civil service that preceded the mass.

“One thing we have all come to see and appreciate …is that Tim loved America. And yet he spent many years in foreign lands because of that love,” McClone said.

“He gave up his right to be with his own family and friends so that others could enjoy that right. He gave up the warmth of home and familiarity so that others could enjoy such things. And he gave up the right to come and go as he pleased so that others could have that freedom. And finally, last week, in a small village half way around the world, he made the supreme sacrifice and surrendered his own right to life in order to secure and protect the lives of others.”

“Tim quietly served his country. He looked out for his buddies and now he returns to us here in this town, his hometown, as a bonafide hero,” McClone said.