Appleton will have a full firefighter’s funeral. At 11 a.m. Friday, his body will be placed onto a firetruck with a procession to Riverside High School in Quincy. The procession will go through the communities of Rand and Belle along Old U.S. 60 and off Orchard Avenue. A public memorial service is scheduled at noon Friday at Riverside High School.

[Editor’s note: John Appleton, 62, of Malden, suffered cardiac arrest while fighting a fire that destroyed a home along Happy Hollow Road. He was rushed to the hospital but did not survive. Appleton has been pastor of Kanawha Salines Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Malden, W.V., since 2004. He also served as chaplain for the local fire department. He is survived by his wife Cathy, and five children: Spring, Lucas, Michael, Eric and Brandon.

Arrangements for John Appleton Funeral/Memorial Services: Visitation will be on Thursday at the Kanawha Salines Funeral Home from 6:00-8:00 p.m. There will be a private service at church at 10:00 a.m. for family and church members only. Following this service there will be a fire fighter procession at 11:00 a.m. to the Riverside High School, 1 Warrior Way, Belle, W.V., followed by a community-wide service at noon for the public.]

Malden Fire Capt. Bradley Scott knew a day like this could eventually come. He just hoped it never would.

“You never think it’s going to happen in your own house,” Scott said. “And it has.”

When John Appleton collapsed and died at a fire Monday in Sissonville, Scott and the other firefighters there lost a brother.

“We have our families at home, and we have our families here,” Scott said. “When stuff like this happens, we all bond together.”

Appleton had been a firefighter at Malden for seven years. He joined the department with his son and went out on practically every call. They said it was one of his passions. His other was serving as pastor for the local Presbyterian church.

“You knew where he was,” Chris Proctor said. “If the word of God was being preached, he was here. If there was a fire, he was over there.”

Chris Proctor helped the Appletons move to the region from Philadelphia nearly a decade ago. He says Appleton was like a second father to him.

“The hole that he’s going to leave here is never going to be filled,” Proctor said.

John had spent months working on a project that was set to open this Thursday: a farmer’s market to help bring the Malden community together. It was just one way Appleton lived his biggest piece of advice.

“If he was here, he’d be telling me to say this, ‘Don’t wait too long,’ ” Proctor said. “Because you never know when you’re not going to have that chance.”

“He loved this place,” Scott said. “He really cared about this place. He cared about his community.”

Visitation for the public is set from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday at Kanawha Salines Presbyterian Church.

A private service will take place at 10 a.m. Friday at the church.

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