VASSAR -- James D. Smith died Monday beside his wife, Lynne A. Smith, at the same place where he saved her life almost 15 years ago -- the Shell gasoline station here.

Smith, 66, of Vassar, was driving his Chevrolet S-10 pickup on West Huron when he suffered a massive heart attack and died, his wife said.

A funeral will take place at 2 p.m. Friday at Wolverine Human Resources, also known as the Pioneer Work and Learn Center, 150 Enterprise in Vassar, with the Rev. Vincent McMillon officiating. Burial will follow at Riverside Cemetery.Lynne Smith said the couple was returning home from breakfast in Frankenmuth.

"I saw the pickup veering over and said, 'Jimmy, you're going to hit the curb,' and when I looked over at him, I knew he was gone," she said.

As the truck went over the curb, Lynne Smith scrambled to take control and piloted the vehicle through some bushes. It came to rest in the parking lot of the service station, also known as People's Choice Market, 911 W. Huron.

"By the grace of God, there were no pedestrians or cars there," she said.

It didn't immediately dawn on her where she was.

"It was so ironic," she said. "Somebody later brought it to my attention -- that he saved my life here and now his life ended here."

The couple met at the service station about 35 years ago. In 1994, James Smith -- then a Vassar police officer -- saved the life of his future wife, then known as Lynne Butterfield.

Records show that Smith and Butterfield were in the market at 1:30 a.m. Aug. 21, 1994, when her estranged husband, Gary G. Butterfield, came in twice to buy a soft drink and a cup of coffee.

James Smith knew Gary Butterfield, having arrested him on Aug. 20 for stalking his wife. When Butterfield, who was out on bail, entered the store for the second time, Smith got up to call 911.

Police records show Lynne Butterfield got up to leave but Gary Butterfield pushed her down, pulled out a fillet knife and slashed her throat. As he raised his arm a second time, Smith tackled him.

The cut left her with an 8-inch-long, 1 1/2-inch-deep wound from her left ear to her throat, along her jaw line. Doctors said the knife missed her jugular vein by 2 centimeters and estimated she lost a quarter of her blood.

The slashing made national news. By April 1995, Lynne Smith was talking about the attack on the "Today Show." On Aug. 19, 1995, she married Smith.

Smith retired from the Vassar Police Department as a corporal in December 1999 after 28 years.

Butterfield, 57, was serving a 12- to 30-year sentence at the Parnall Correctional Facility in Jackson for assault with intent to commit murder and assault with a dangerous weapon.

John Cordell, spokesman for the state Department of Corrections, said Butterfield is eligible for parole but even if denied because of his "highly assaultive crime" status, he will go free on his maximum discharge date of Nov. 19, 2019.

Butterfield has had three parole hearings so far, Lynne Smith said. She attended each one.

"His next one is in 2010, and I will be there," she said.