LONGTIME VENTURA FIRE SPOKESMAN, 60.

Byline: ERIC LEACH

Staff Writer

OXNARD -- Funeral services will be held Monday for Joe Luna, a longtime spokesman for the Ventura County Fire Department who died this week of cancer just a year after his retirement. He was 60.

"He touched a lot of people," said Capt. Barry Parker, a friend of Luna and the department's new spokesman. "Joe Luna was caring and compassionate about everyone. He was warm, loving and very humble."

Luna went out of his way, working long hours at the scenes of deadly fires, traffic accidents and Ventura County disasters such as the La Conchita mudslide of 2005 and the Alaska Air Crash of 2000.

He was careful to provide information to the public in both English and Spanish.

"He would always go out of his way to make sure the public got the information it needed," Parker said. "He wouldn't stop until the people had all the information. It wasn't just a job for Joe. It was a way of life."

Luna was a firefighter for 34 years with the Ventura County Fire Department. He retired in April and discovered he had cancer in October.

He was married to his wife, Terri, for 37 years, and they raised three children, including a daughter, Jessica, of Oxnard, and two sons, Eric of Elk Grove, Calif., and Joseph of Oxnard. Joseph is a firefighter for the city of Los Angeles.

A vigil is scheduled for 7p.m. Sunday in Saint Anthony Church of Oxnard, with funeral services scheduled at noon Monday in Santa Clara Church in Oxnard, followed by burial at Santa Clara Cemetery.

A public reception will be held after the burial at the Oxnard Community Center.

eric.leach(at)dailynews.com

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