John Whitesell may have retired last year after 30 years of service with the volunteer Sundre Fire Department but near and distant voices keep calling him back.
The ones close by are his colleagues who still call on him to perform fire investigations. The voices from afar are from Calgary and beyond who insist he be honoured for his years of devoted service.
Last week he was in Calgary to accept the federal Fire Service Exemplary Service Medal from Alberta Lieutenant Governor Donald S. Ethell.
The Fire Services Exemplary Service Medal, created in 1985, honours members of a recognized Canadian fire service who have completed 20 years of service, 10 of which have been served in the performance of duties involving potential risks. Exemplary service is characterized by good conduct, industry and efficiency.
While Whitesell, now 60 and retired from his day job as a development officer with the town, was chief of the Sundre Fire Department for 22 of the 30 years he was a volunteer. While he is proud of his record and long service he is also humbled.
He is a modest man, respectfully declining to accept any special credit for all the good he has done for the Sundre community. He places great value on the men and women he has worked with over the years who have made supreme sacrifices each and every time they answered a call.
“There is a tendency to think and hope I could have made a difference. You more remember the failures and not the successes,” said Whitesell. “There is nothing that really stands out. I am feeling a bit melancholy right now.
“Unfortunately the ones (successes) that stick with you are the ones you don't want to remember,” he added. “Yes, there have been successes but success as I look at it is just having done my job. That's what I was trained to do.”
Although he is still called upon to conduct fire investigations Whitesell said he will always miss and cherish the special camaraderie that exists among firefighters. And while he is not one to detail the successes of his most revered profession he does admit it came with a special calling.
“I started this to make a difference, to help my neighbours when there is a fire, to protect those neighbours,” said Whitesell. “I would hope they would do the same. That is what community is all about,” he added.
For now and the foreseeable future Whitesell plans on relaxing in retirement, perhaps going to his lake in Saskatchewan more often. In doing so he is happy to let a new generation of firefighters take charge in the community.
“I think it is just best to hand it over to the younger guys,” he said.
