GREELEY, Colo. -- The Weld County Officer who died in a shootout Tuesday was remembered as a great deputy, a faithful friend and a loving husband.

Sam Brownlee, 43, had worked as a Weld County Deputy for the past five years, according to Sheriff John Cooke.

"When he started with us about five years ago, in that same year in 2006, he won the life-saving award because he gave CPR to an elderly woman who was about to die and actually saved her life, so he was awarded for that," Cooke told 7NEWS.

"He was very involved in the sheriff's office. He was a field-training officer, a Taser certified instructor and an instructor in firearms," the sheriff said.

Cooke also talked about a call where Brownlee risked his life to make sure no one was trapped in a house fire.

"There was a house that caught on fire here in Weld County and he entered the house while it was still on fire to see if there was anybody in there that needed to be rescued," he said. "It turned out there wasn't. But, the mere fact that he would go into the house while it was still burning to try and rescue anybody just goes to the type of man that he was."

Brownlee was married in June 2009. Cooke said Brownlee was the father of two children and had two stepchildren from his marriage.

Photos on Brownlee's Facebook page show him on and off duty -- one shows him in front of a police car from another department and is titled, "Back in the day."

Facebook friends posted tributes to the fallen officer -- many of those coming from fellow officers.

"Our hearts are heavy this evening. God Bless you Sam Brownlee. You were not merely a hero because of the job you did, but because of the kind of man you were. You and your family will forever be in our thoughts," posted one friend.

Another wrote: " It was an honor to know you. You were a good person and although we never knew each other on a level that friends do, you always treated me as one. Thank you for that. Rest in peace, your shift is over my friend."

One coworker may have summed it up best when she wrote, " I will always love you buddy! You are in my heart forever."

Thoughts and prayers for Brownlee were also posted on Twitter by a number of Colorado law enforcement agencies.

Brownlee had just celebrated his 43rd birthday on Nov. 17.