Jonesboro, AR — (JonesboroRightNow.com) — June 20, 2025 — Paramedic Mark Gibson was honored and remembered during the National EMS Memorial Service’s Moving Honors procession ceremony, which made a stop in Jonesboro Friday morning.
Gibson, 56, was a member of the Emerson Ambulance Service in Jonesboro. He died in the line of duty on Aug. 9, 2024, in a vehicular accident. He was a paramedic for 40 years, first serving full-time as a West Memphis Fire Department paramedic for 28 years, then retiring and working part-time at Emerson until his death.
This annual procession honors Gibson and 28 other EMS professionals from across the country who died in the line of duty in 2024. It culminates with the Weekend of Honor, which will be held July 18-20 in Arlington, VA, after making stops in 19 states.
During the Weekend of Honor, the Tree of Life, a memorial bearing the names of those lost, is unveiled. A replica of the tree accompanies the procession and is on display at each stop.
Gibson’s wife, Cheris Gibson, said it meant the world to her that her husband was honored this way.
“He and I were partners for the last seven years. I was the EMT … I was driving the ambulance when the accident happened,” she recalled as she wiped a tear from her cheek. “He was everything that is good about EMS.”
Their friend and coworker Sarah Walker added that she’d been partners with Gibson and his wife at Emerson. Walker, now the director of the EMT and Paramedic program at NYIT at A-State, said, “Mark Gibson was everything that everybody wanted to be.”
“When I’m teaching my students, I use him as an example of what EMS is and professionalism,” she said. “He never had a crown, but the patient advocacy and the professionalism that Mark had… He is what everyone should mirror as an EMS. When I think of EMTs and EMS, Mark always comes to mind. He was the best of the best.”
Another one of Gibson’s many friends and coworkers, Emerson Ambulance Service EMT and public relations admin Eric White, said Gibson was great, not just as an employee, but as a friend, a brother, and a mentor.
“There was a lot of people in EMS that looked up to him,” White said. “He was an instructor for a lot of things, too. So, he helped lead the way and trained all the newer guys whenever they were coming up. He really enjoyed it. With this being a memorial not just for the other 29, but for him, I think it’s a pretty cool thing that he’s been nationally remembered instead of just locally remembered.”
The National EMS Memorial Service, founded in 1991, is a volunteer-driven organization honoring fallen EMS providers and supporting their families and colleagues.
“We want to remember the fallen. Plus, if there’s families or colleagues or coworkers that don’t get to go to the Weekend of Honor, this is another way that they get to see the memorial,” said Moving Honors crew chief and American Medical Response paramedic Megan Haverkamp.
“We always hear from those families that their loved ones are going to be forgotten, but they’re not going to be forgotten. That’s one of our goals,” Haverkamp said. “We’re always there for them and their brothers and sisters in the first responder world. We always have to have each other’s backs. We have to have their families back also and take care of them.”
The ceremony was led by Emerson Ambulance Service paramedic Travis Kimberling, with the presentation of colors by the West Memphis Fire Department Honor Guard.
“Paramedic Mark got to start his career in EMS in 1986 while also through those years becoming a dual licensed funeral professional as a funeral director and involvement firefighter law enforcement officer. Through all these careers, Mark was dedicated to helping others through whatever he could. Most importantly of all, Mark was devoted to and loved being with his family. He also made a lasting impression on the new EMS providers being an EMS instructor. There’s just simply not enough words or time to truly say how much Mark meant to us, to me, the EMS, fire service and law enforcement,” Kimberling said.
Mayor Harold Copenhaver also spoke at the ceremony.
“Mark was part of our community in so many ways, and I think we all need to look around and see whom he touched,” Copenhaver said. “We recognize the commitment of our first responders in all aspects, but more importantly is our first responders are the crux and the basis of our community, especially in this time and age.”
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