Four medics memorialized at Tyler hospital
Posted/updated on: June 23, 2025 at 2:24 am
TYLER — CHRISTUS Mother Frances Hospital in Tyler held a memorial service on Thursday to honor four medics that lost their lives in the line of duty in 1988 and 1989. According to our news partner KETK, the National EMS Memorial Service (NEMSMS) travels across the U.S. every year to honor emergency medical services personnel that died while in the line of duty. This year, NEMSMS planned to make a total of 29 stops in 19 states and one of those stops was at CHRISTUS Mother Frances Hospital in Tyler.
A ‘Tree of Life’ memorial was held to honor three CHRSITUS ‘Flight for Life’ crew members who died in an air medical accident on Feb. 13, 1989 and another medic who died in 1988. The ‘Tree of Life’ is a memorial board that displays an image of an oak tree with the names, agencies and dates of loss of every honoree engraved on the leaves.
A ‘Fight for Life’ crew is a team of medical professionals that provides helicopter transportation for patients in need, according to CHRISTUS EMS. Those honored at this years service include the three Flight for Life crew members who died in an air medical accident in 1989 and one Flight for Life Ground member who died from a traumatic injury in 1988.
- Jeanna Lackey – Flight for Life
- Gerald Morgan Sr. – Flight for Life
- Kathryn Lea Ohnheiser – Flight for Life
- James Thomas – Flight for Life Ground
The three Flight for Life members worked for Trinity Mother Frances in Tyler at the time of their deaths and James Thomas worked Champion EMS before his death on May 5, 1988, according to Global Medical Response.
