Josh Lee is living the dream … and he’s only 22.

He is a third-generation senior firefighter for the Knoxville Fire Department (KFD). He’s also a fourth-generation big-time fisherman who spends more time fishing than working at the KFD Headquarters Station in downtown Knoxville. He may be on Norris Lake as you read this.

Haley Rayfield and Josh Lee with their second-place largemouth bass haul at Melton Hill Lake after a recent tournament

And on Friday, August 30, he and Haley Rayfield will exchange wedding vows. “Haley fishes too and she’s pretty good. Before we got engaged, she knew she was not allowed to have a problem with me going fishing,” he said with a laugh. “And she doesn’t. She loves to fish and we love fishing together.”

Family, fishing and firefighting is his life. There is another part of their lives they share — they are co-youth ministers at Central Baptist Church in Alcoa. Haley also is a pharmacy tech at Vaughn Pharmacy in Powell.

Haley and Josh graduated from Karns High School in 2020 and were friends growing up in Karns schools. But they didn’t begin dating until two weeks after graduation. They’ve also bought their first home. “It’s in Clinton,” Josh says. “Why Clinton? It’s close to Norris Lake (his favorite fishing hole along with Melton Hill).” And when he’s not fishing or working, he’s on the hunt for deer and turkeys.

The Lees are big tournament competitors. Josh and his dad often team up and he and Haley also fish together in tournaments. Josh says the largest fish he’s landed was a 40-to-50-pound catfish on Fort Loudoun Lake.

Josh, part of the crew on Engine 2 Red shift, has three members of the Lee family he’s following who were all major parts of the KFD.

His grandfather was the late Cecil W. “Sonny” Lee, who passed away on January 24, 2022, at the age of 79. He was a KFD firefighter for 30 years and a well-known tournament fisherman. For 20 years WBIR-TV broadcast the “Fishing Tips with Sonny” show.

Sonny’s two sons also are retired KFD veterans. Josh’s father, Joe, 54, was a captain when he retired in 2022 after 26 years. And what is Joe doing in retirement? “Just about every day, he’s fishing. He’s waiting on me right now after we finish this interview.”

Jeff Lee is Josh’s uncle and he retired from KFD in 2015 as a captain after 19 years. He’s also a fishing and hunting retiree and is a big deer hunter.

Josh’s older brother, Jake, fishes but also is a busy youth and associate minister at Woodland Park Baptist Church in Oak Ridge. Jake was the national collegiate fishing champion when he was on Bryan College’s fishing team.

Josh says his first memory of the fire business was when he was 4. “I remember sitting in the kitchen at Station 5 in Mechanicsville where Dad worked. That’s also where my mom (Melissa) went into labor with me and left for the hospital,” he said.

He says his first time in a bass boat was when he was only two weeks old. “That’s a family tradition. When a baby boy is born into the family he has to be carried in a boat when he’s two weeks old.”

Josh joined KFD in November 2021 and graduated from the Fire Academy in February 2022. He was assigned to the Headquarters station and loves his family there. “There are 13 of us on our shift and there’s always people around. I like running calls and our station is always busy. You see a lot and learn a lot. Our location means we can respond to fires and emergencies all over town and that’s exciting.”

The family’s legacy at KFD no doubt influenced Josh’s career choice. “But I’m here because I wanted to be here. What we all do is so important for Knoxville and an office job never appealed to me. Here it’s different every day and I work with different people too and we have no idea about what will happen next in our day.”

KFD’s Josh Lee

One KFD veteran mentioned Josh’s “great work ethic.” Josh credits his dad and fishing for that. “To get better at fishing you have to fish almost every day to learn all you can. It’s all about repetition. Same in the fire business. Lots of this comes from Dad. He could study fire and fishing like no one I’ve ever seen. He still does. I guess that got passed to me, thankfully.”

For Josh, fishing is more than just fishing. “Every day I’m out there in the boat helps clear my mind from the stress at work and we have a lot of stress – we all do in the fire business,” he says. “We all sit down and talk about things we’ve seen on calls once we’re back at the station. But the fishing is my escape and once we’re in the boat, we never talk about firefighting, just fishing.”

This young man appreciates his life and who he is today. “Growing up, this is the kind of life I dreamed about having. My job, the fishing and now getting married to a wonderful lady next month. I’m far from perfect but who I am today is because of my God and my parents never slacked off on me and my brother,” he said. “Never.”

And the dream continues …

Tom King has been the editor of newspapers in Texas and California and also worked in Tennessee and Georgia. If you have someone you think we should consider featuring, please email him at the link with his name or text him at 865-659-3562.