7 minute read
Kevin Geldean
Firefighting a rewarding experience for Geldean
Walnut native who turned firefighting into a career in the Chicago area talks sacrifices and successes of a fireman following his retirement
Kevin Geldean removed his name tag on the assignment board and walked out of the Lisle-Woodridge Fire Station for the final time on Sunday, Aug. 23, retiring after nearly 27 years on the job.
Shortly later, he posted that he was bored and asked if anyone had any yards to mow.
MAKING A LIVING
Geldean went to school to become an X-ray technician for a year and found that to be very boring. So he joined his hometown Walnut Fire Department and became an EMT and loved it.
A family friend, who was deputy chief in Lombard told him, “You know, you can go do this for a living and get paid doing this.”
“I just thought it was like a volunteer thing,” Geldean said.
The shifts were demanding, 24 hours on, starting at 7 a.m. one day to 7 a.m. the next, and then 48 hours off. It took some getting used to being on call over night.
“I couldn’t work a 40-hour week job anymore,” Geldean said. “That shift is really nice except for getting up in the middle of the night. There’s some nights you don’t get out on a single call and some shifts you go out on 10 calls.”
Sometimes it took your coworkers to shake you and wake you up.
“You hear that alarm go off and you just jump up and go,” he said. “It might sound scary, but you get in that rig, and it’s, ‘Man, I’ve got to wake up. I’m getting ready to drive this thing.’ Something you get used to doing and it becomes second nature.”
The firemen were expected to be out the door in two minutes when the alarm went off, even during the middle of the night. Geldean said some went to bed wearing all their stuff, but he just went to bed wearing shorts and a t-shirt and would just
By Kevin Hieronymus
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO Kevin Geldean removes his velcro name tag for the final time at the end of his last shift working for the Lisle-Woodridge Fire Department. He served for nearly 27 years.
“jump up and throw some pants on and get in the rig and go.”
SACRIFICES
Geldean, 49, who now lives in Joliet with his new bride, Kristin, lived in Princeton from 1998-2017. There were many sacrifices along the way as he knows he missed several of his daughter MacKenzie’s first days of school, dances, sporting events, musicals, holidays, and other family events because of his crazy schedule.
The most rewarding part about being a fireman, Geldean said, is the satisfaction you see when you are helping someone in a time of need.
“Most people when they call 911, they’re in the worst time of their life probably,” he said. “And when you can see that switch when we show up and things start to get better and you can see a smile on their face, that’s what most people do it for.”
There’s certainly no better feeling than saving lives.
“As far as pulling people out of fires, I never had to do that. I have been on several fatal fires, which are no fun,” he said. “Recently, there’s been a lot of overdoses. That’s been the big thing. But a lot of them we get back, too.”
The kids always made it special, because they were always excited to see them around town.
“When you’re handing out stickers or the little plastic helmets, the kids just light up and they think it’s awesome,” Geldean said.
Geldean started up a new tradition one Halloween when things were slow at the station.
“No one was stopping by for candy and I finally said, ‘You know what, we’ve got to take the candy to the kids,’” he said. “We jumped in the fire engine and started driving around with the big bowls of candy. We’d stop at a corner and kids would run up and the parents loved it.
“It’s kind of started as a new tradition at Lisle-Woodridge and I hope it keeps going. It’s just things like that. Any time you can make somebody smile, it’s a good thing.”
DANGERS OF THE JOB
All of the fireman know there are a lot of dangers on the job. Geldean said getting to the fires on the Chicago freeways was the scariest part.
“I never did worry about dying on a fire, but as soon as I went up on the toll road, I said, ‘I could be killed on this roadway so easy,’ because people have to be looking to see what’s going on and they’re driving fast,” he said. “The highways are dangerous and people really have to pay attention and pull over and slow down when there’s flashing lights.”
Geldean has been asked by friends why he didn’t become the chief? He enjoyed being out in the field as a fireman so much he never gave it a thought.
Left: Walnut native Kevin Geldean recently retired after over 26 years of service to the Lisle-Woodridge Fire Department. Center: Walnut native Kevin Geldean rode in the fire engine for the Lisle-Woodridge Fire Department for the final time, retiring with nearly 27 years of service. Right: Kevin Geldean was sworn in for duty on the Lisle-Woodridge Fire Department by the late Deputy Chief Jim Tonne in 1993. Geldean was working as a volunteer fireman for his hometown when Tonne, a family friend, told him he could make a living as a fireman. CONTRIBUTED PHOTOS
“I grew up on a farm and have always enjoyed hands-on work, not that desk job stuff doing reports and whatever else those chiefs do,” he said. “It takes all kinds to make a fire department work and I was always very happy just being a firefighter.”
TEAM WORK
Geldean was a member of the Walnut Blue Raiders football team from the Class of 1989 and said that experience helped prepare him for his future occupation.
“Being a fireman, you can talk to any of them, it’s really truly teamwork. There aren’t any individuals in the fire service. If there are, they’re not any good,” he said.
“That person sitting next to you on that fire truck, without them there, you’re not going to get the job done. Coach Pete really instilled that in you. Takes team work to get the job done and then just be good men.”
Asked what was tougher, being a fireman or one of Peterson’s practices, Geldean laughed and said, “Definitely Coach Pete and Pork Chop Hill.”
From his trademark yellow Lisle-Woodridge fire engine, Geldean will jump into a brown UPS truck starting as a delivery driver in October.
He said he’s definitely going to miss the people, the family atmosphere and the joking around that goes on at the station.
“But I’m not going to miss getting up in the middle of the night. Just having a normal schedule is what I’m looking forward to,” he said.
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