Retired from Dispatching Work Mid January 2018

I forgot to say, that I retired from East Central Dispatch on January 15th, officially…my last night was actually a few nights before that and they had a retirement party for me on Friday the 12th, with several firefighters attending from a few of the cities and a few police officer friends as well as a couple of my co-workers. A couple of the Chiefs attended as well, Terry Kurten from Brentwood FD and Kevin Halloran from Rock Hill FD…his on duty crew attended and brought me a couple of hats and shirts as a retirement gift…they were much appreciated. Clayton FD`s crew with Batt Chief Diane Straatmann, as well as crews from Richmond Heights also attended on the Fire Service side, while Lt Al Thuett from Clayton PD and a few officers with Richmond Hts PD wandered in and out as they were on duty. Kurt, my Operations Manager, who I used to relieve on fire dispatch over the years before he was promoted from the floor, presented me with a nice plaque for my 15.5 years of service, after saying several nice things about me. He and I go way back in the fire service as good firefighter friends and he is truly a Guiding Force and Light for East Central Dispatch and the Dispatchers there. There was also two cakes, one I was able to take home with me, a red velvet cake, and punch as well. 

Two other dispatch supervisors attended, Melissa with the other day crew, and Charlie Robinson with the other night crew…Charlie was the guy that finished out my training when I started working there, he is a super good guy and a very good dispatcher as well, he has been there nearly 30 years ! My supervisor Patty Kinealy walked up to the party with me, she has been my supervisor for several years and even more so, a very good friend as well…she is quite a peach…she gave me a pet name of Dollface several years ago and I named her Doll…cause she really is one…inside and out !! 

For the past several years, I mainly dispatched on the fire side and answered phones, yet had no problem filing in on the police side of the radios when needed….I will def miss dispatching the firefighters to calls and I truly appreciate Chief Halloran and the crews who I dispatched later that night for the call outs and kudos on the radio as they were returning in service. I did my best to stay vigilant and keep my crews as safe as possible, and I have to say, I had a good crew of dispatchers helping me out on the big calls and when we had several calls piled up…we worked well as a team on our shift. I plan to visit when possible and hope for the best for everyone down there as well…stay safe and thanks for all you do !!

…Firefighters and co-worker Roy on far left above…Clayton firefighters in photo above this one…photo below is Lt Al Thuett with Clayton PD and Batt Chief Diane Straatmann with Clayton FD….

Me with the crew…Al, Patty, Roy, Diane, and Me below…..

and me with a piece of Red Velvet Cake….yes it was delicious. 🙂

…and a few weeks later, Patty and Kellie came out with Todd Schmidt, one of our favorite Webster Groves Sgts and Kellie`s husband Jeramy, to take me out to retirement lunch at Missouri Hick BBQ in Cuba…my Mom came with me and we met them there for lunch…had a great time, thanks for lunch yall !!