To many first responders throughout the greater Lehigh Valley, John Kalynych was a giant in the emergency services community.

When he died unexpectedly Aug. 27 at age 50, a shutter of disbelief went through that community.

Kalynych was a former director of Lehigh County Emergency Management Services until he retired from there and joined the Lehigh County District Attorney’s Office part time, serving on the Municipal Emergency Response Team for the district attorney’s office.

“John’s passion was helping others,” said Tanya Hook, the current director of Lehigh County Emergency Management Services.

“One of the last Facebook messages John posted, a few days before his passing, summed up his life,” Hook said.

“Don’t believe in luck; believe in hard work,” his message read.

“That posting was a motto that describes John’s life,” Hook said. “He was always working hard to build and maintain relationships, spend time with family and help others in need.

“He could always be counted on during an emergency situation,” Hook said. “He would be the guy who either knew the answer or knew the person with the right equipment or the training and expertise to get the job done.”

In the nearly 20 years Kalynych spent with the county, Hook said, “His passion helped to position public safety as one of the county’s highest-rated services to our citizens.

“His determination and dedication to the development of the public safety community earned Lehigh County Emergency Management tremendous respect,” Hook added.

Kalynych began his career with Lehigh County as a part-time member of the county’s Special Operations Team from 2003 to 2010.

He became the team’s full-time coordinator in 2010 before being promoted to director of Lehigh County Emergency Management Services in 2019.

He retired from that position in 2021 and later joined the district attorney’s office.

Kalynych was also a volunteer firefighter. He served in several fire service positions in Northampton County and was a past deputy chief of Catasauqua Fire Department. He most recently served as safety officer for Lower Saucon Fire Rescue at the department’s Se-Wy-Co Fire Station.

Tributes and condolences fill page after page on Kalynych’s social media sites and on first responder organizations’ social media throughout the region.

After an autopsy performed Aug. 29, Lehigh County Coroner Daniel Buglio ruled the manner of death as “natural” but did not release the cause of death.

“I have made contact with John’s family,” Buglio said in a news release. “I discussed the autopsy results with John’s family and again offered my heartfelt condolences.

“I’d like John’s family to continue to grieve privately as they cope with the sudden and unexpected death of John. For that reason, I am not (publicly) releasing the cause of death at this time,” Buglio said.