GREATER LOVE HAS NO MAN THAN THIS

Lisette Miller found an answer to the question, “Why does God only take the good ones?”

“Because the good ones are the ones that are willing to sacrifice themselves,” Miller said.

One of those “good ones” was Miller’s 53-year-old brother, Fred Pepperman, who died Sunday while rescuing his daughters from the rough Gulf of Mexico on the beach in Seacrest.

Sunday was the first day of a recurring vacation for the Tennessee family.

Fred acted his usual, funny self, making jokes like purposefully hiding puzzle pieces from the kids as they worked hard for the finished product, which Miller said drove them crazy.

With it being their first day in South Walton, the family of three daughters, husbands, grandparents and 10 granddaughters rushed to the beach excited to kick off their vacation.

“We saw the red flags,” Miller said. “We didn’t know what two (flags) meant. We just knew dangerous waters, so don’t go too deep but about waist-deep at the max. The kids were fine. That’s what they were doing.”

Sitting on the beach chatting, Fred’s wife, Julie, looked over and noticed their 16-year-old daughter, Grace, far away from the group in deeper water.

“She told her 20-year-old, Olivia, to go tell Grace to come in because she’s too far out,” Miller said.

As Olivia got closer, Grace began yelling for help, and Olivia jumped in the water. By the time the family realized what was happening, three of Fred and Julie’s four daughters were in the water and had been swept away by a rip current.

Julie and Fred rushed to their daughters as other family members yelled for someone to call 911. As they waited for lifeguards, the aunts, uncles, and grandparents attempted to form a human chain with the help of four bystanders, but the current was too strong, Miller said.

Fred swam to his daughters and pushed his youngest toward her sister, who was able to get out.

With two of his girls safely on shore, Fred held his third daughter.

Despite the crashing waves, Fred worked tirelessly to keep his daughter’s head above water.

“He pushed her with everything he had to somebody waiting with a boogie board further down the current, and he got Olivia out,” Miller said.

The family searched for Fred, who was about 15 feet behind the group, Miller said.

But a wave came through and took away what strength Fred had reserved. Within 10 minutes of the family’s first day on the beach, Fred took his last breath on this earth.

Julie held her daughters on the beach as medical staff attempted CPR on her husband of 28 years.

Fred was one of two drowning victims Sunday in Walton County as double-red flags warned beachgoers to stay clear of the water. They were the first two victims of the year on the county’s beaches.

Although she didn’t get the chance to tell Fred, Julie had these words for her husband.

“You did good, Freddie. Our girls are safe. You saved your family. You are a good man, through and through. We love you and our hearts are breaking,” Julie wrote in a Facebook post.