Larry “Nerp” Slagle, who died Thursday, is shown with his great-grandson, John.

Larry “Nerp” Slagle, 80, had a lifelong dedication to fire services, but his family said the love, energy, compassion and helpfulness he shared with others will be even more sorely missed.

“My biggest sorrow is for people who don't have someone like my dad in their life,” said his grieving daughter, Lori Slagle Roxbury. “Everyone should try to be a Nerp to someone.”

Slagle, who died Thursday,was instrumental in improving emergency and fire services in Butler County and beyond over the decades.

He and the late Butler Fire Department Chief George Smith created the Public Safety Training Center at Butler County Community College.

BC3 spokesman Bill Foley said last year, 154 classes were held and 1,488 students trained in industrial safety at the facility. He said 486 classes were held and 9,361 students trained in fire and hazardous materials in 2017.

“It is estimated that 200,000 people have trained at BC3 since Slagle and Smith's programs began,” Foley said.

Slagle was also a charter and life member of the Bruin Volunteer Fire Department, a founding member of Butler Hazmat Team 100 and the Rural Firefighters Association,a member of the Butler Fire Chiefs Association, a president and director of training at the East Butler Volunteer Fire Department in his later years.

Slagle also influenced many young firefighters over the years. His daughter, Kelly Slagle Wilson, said since her father's illness and passing,many men and women have approached the family to relate that Slagle is the reason they became firefighters or members of a hazmat team.

“One gentleman said 'I wouldn't have the career I have without Nerp,'” she said. “Other people said he was their hero, and many said mentor.”

The Slagle daughters said it was a privilege to grow up in a fireman's family, and they thought nothing of going to the Bruin fire hall to help out at fundraisers like bingo, community dinners or any other event.

“It was just a given in our family,” Roxbury said. “That was how we grew up, and there was no better way.”

Wilson recalls becoming an emergency medical technician as soon as she was old enough. She and her father would proceed to the fire hall together when the familiar whistle would blow.

“I remember sitting in the car waiting on him and he would come down and say 'The main thing is don't panic and we'll get there safe,'” she said.

But Slagle was also a character with a ribald sense of humor, said his family members.

“He had a Ford truck he nicknamed 'Henry,'” Wilson said. “There are many stories that shouldn't be put in print, including how many people he could get in the cab of Henry or how after (fire) training events, sometimes the Jack Daniels would bust out.”

His unusual nickname came from his mischievous oldest brother many years ago, who jokingly told a reporter his little brother's name was “Nerpford” when asked to list the family's names for a story on a deceased relative.

“It stuck to this day,” Wilson said of the family legend. “Everyone called him “Nerp.”

The family also will miss Slagle's special way with his grandchildren and even his small great-grandchildren, who visited him at the assisted living facility where he spent his later years.

“They would ride on his lap in the wheelchair,” Wilson said. “He was a wonderful, wonderful family man and loving husband.”

His wife of 54 years, Norma Jean, died in 2012.

“Now they're together,” Wilson said. “Oh, he missed her so much.”

Roxbury summed up the sentiments of all who knew and loved Nerp Slagle and appreciate the legacy of community service he left behind.

“What has really gotten us through all this has been the number of lives my dad has touched,” she said. “There was something about my dad, and I think it was just his compassion and friendship and humor that would draw people to him like a magnet.”

The Bruin Volunteer Fire Department will conduct a memorial service for Slagle at 3:45 p.m. Sunday at the Hile Funeral Home in Chicora, where friends were received on Thursday.

A fire department escort with honors will be held at 11 a.m. Monday at Faith Fellowship Alliance Church in Butler with the Rev. Richard Jenks officiating.