Celebration of Life held for late Kings County Fire Captain

KINGS COUNTY, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – The Avenal community came together Saturday to celebrate the life of beloved Kings County Fire Captain Mark Eads.

“Mark is very goofy, is usually the first words that come to people’s mind, animated and just a heart for people,” said Aaron Parreira, Kings County Battalion Chief.

Captain Eads took great pride in serving the Kings County community, something he did for 21 years. And equally, the community loved him.

“I can’t express enough how much he meant to my family and my kids,” said Avenal resident Giner Wallis.

To honor Eads’ life and legacy, neighbors and friends hosted a lunch in Downtown Avenal.

“To see that just community members put this all together was pretty amazing,” Parreira explained. 

And a large crowd turned out, sitting at tables lined with red, white, and blue tablecloths, with patriotic flowers to match. At one end of the table, dozens of colorful handmade letters were on display. 

“I’m holding up some cards from Miss Ariza, Miss Kapono’s sixth-grade classes,” Wallis added. Children’s well wishes and small drawings cover the pages.

“Let them know that his value in Avenal was really appreciated. You know, his bubbly personality, his humor. He loved the kids. He loved the kids. I mean, and the kids loved seeing him on campus,” Wallis shared.

On the evening of February 1, Eads and his engineer were called out to a structure fire on the 800 block of Skyline. While on scene, he suffered from a heart attack. At the age of 62, he had plans to retire this coming July. Eads leaves behind his wife and two children.

“It’s an honor to be able to come and just recognize somebody of his magnitude, and I know anybody that he has met, he left an impression on them,” Parreira said.

A mass will be held at the Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Fresno this Tuesday at 10 a.m. A GoFundMe has also been set up to help fund the funeral service. Click here to donate.