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Prairie Township honors retiring fire captain
(by Brandi Daniels, staff writer - February 15, 2011)
The Prairie Township trustees honored Captain Jeffrey Routte for his 28 years of service to the Prairie Township Fire Department.
Routte began his career in Prairie Township in 1983 as a part-time firefighter and was hired full-time in June 1984. He was promoted in 1992 to lieutenant and then to captain in 2005. He decided to retire after working enough years of service to qualify for retirement.
Assistant Fire Chief Chris Snyder said Routte made many contributions to the department as well as many individuals throughout the fire service during his career.
“He always served with outstanding excellence and dedication. Many firefighters have grown through his friendship, mentoring, and teaching. He will be deeply missed, but will always remain a family member of this department,” said Snyder.
The trustees presented a resolution to Routte along with a gold plated axe with his name on it.
Routte thanked the trustees for “providing for his family” and “being good to him” during his years of service.
“If a man leaves his job and he leaves footprints in the sand, it means he did a good job. And the only thing I can hope is that you can every once in a while think of some footprints of mine,” Routte said as a farewell to his crew.
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