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Laying a line or two by Frank Imbilli
Captain Al Obregon, a fine man, has retired from the Oceanside Fire Department. His last day was December 13th, and by his choice there was little fanfare celebrating his last day on the job.
Al worked thirty one years and was a paramedic, engineer, and Captain. I don't remember if Al went from paramedic firefighter to Captain but he was a good driver and drove for me many times at Station 4.
Al and his wife live in Temecula and will be moving to Kentucky around February/March of next year. Al has purchased property and will build or remodel the home on the site.
Slowly but surely the guys that I worked with are hitting the retirement trail. It is a good thing by the way.
On October 25 our beloved Fire Chief Jack Rosenquist was inducted in to the Oceanside High School Hall of Fame. He was awarded posthumously for the decades of public service as a fire fighter and as a volunteer.
The Chief served in the Korean War and came back to Oceanside in 1954. He was hired on to the Oceanside Fire Department in the early 50's and worked his way up to the Chief's position taking te place of our friend Richard Trotter.
Many good things happened under Chief Rosenquist's time as fire chief:
- The department placed men into the Emergency Medical Tech course at Tri City hospital
- Started the city ambulance service and paramedic service
- Fire stations four and five were also opened
The Chief passed away in 2002 at the age of 71.
In Memory: --Strojny/Griffin
As most of you know Bill Strojny and Terry Griffin passed away in August and October of 2008. Both were given proper sendoffs by the department and it was the right thing to do for these men who left this earth way before they should have.
After speaking with the current Fire Chief Garrison he assured me that it will be SOP (standard operating procedure) that all members who served on the OFD be given the proper remembrance by the fire department. I have volunteered to be the retired liaison for us and the department.
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