Dale Story was being remembered by family Wednesday for his dedication to his church and the way he inspired others through his determination to stay drug-free despite a lengthy past addiction.

"He was a lot of people's hero," said Mr. Story's wife, Josie Story, of Grovetown. "People had respect for him because he was honest about it (a past drug addiction)."

Mr. Story, who died Tuesday night at the age of 49, was featured in March in a front-page story of The Augusta Chronicle detailing how he had stayed drug-free for more than six years, beating an 18-year crack cocaine addiction, all while battling an unrelated deadly lung disease called idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

"Some people would say, 'Well, I'm going to die anyway. I can't get a (lung) transplant. I'm going to go out and get high,' " Mrs. Story said.

But that wasn't her husband, who wanted to let others know how damaging drug addiction could be and how it could be beaten. Mrs. Story said teens at their church, First Pentecostal Church of Grovetown, looked up to her husband for his will to carry on.

"He touched a lot of lives," she said, adding "He was very active in the church. He was very, very much at peace with God."

To that end, Mrs. Story said, her husband had one request before dying.

"He told me, 'When I die ... just take me straight to the church.' "

On Friday, those who knew Mr. Story will gather at First Pentecostal for a visitation from 5 to 8 p.m. His funeral will be at 1 p.m. Saturday, with interment at Bellevue Memorial Gardens.

Reach Preston Sparks at (706) 823-3338 or preston.sparks@augustachronicle.com.