AMHERST — Even before becoming a U.S. citizen, Sarah Roe was on board Amherst Fire Department fire engines and ambulances, responding to emergency calls and caring for patients.
As she retires after 23 years of working for the town, and 30 years total as a professional in the public safety field, Roe, a native of the Cork City, Ireland, remembered when her becoming a citizen confused a municipal employee at Amherst Town Hall.
“What do you mean, becoming a citizen? No one had ever asked me,” said Roe, who emigrated to the United States when she was 24.
Both Roe, whose tenure began June 28, 1999, and Mike Szewczynski, a firefighter who came to town Oct. 20, 2003 and retired a month ago, were honored during a retirement ceremony Wednesday morning inside the bays at the North Fire Station, where family members and current and former colleagues were among those wishing them well.
Fire Chief Tim Nelson lamented losing them from his team.
“This is a tough one, it really is,” Nelson said of the two firefighter-paramedics retiring. “Two great careers, two great people. They mean a lot to us.”
But he said the department was lucky their families allowed them to be borrowed for so long.
“This place will not be the same without these folks,” Nelson said. “These folks are leaving this place better than they found it.”
Roe’s retirement comes several months after a successful kidney transplant that was the subject of online appeals through GoFundMe, and a Facebook page dedicated to keeping people informed about her health and well-being.
A Sunderland resident, Roe was on a kidney waiting list for seven months, after being diagnosed with polycystic kidney disease while determining whether she could be a donor for her father when he was on dialysis. A donor was found for the transplant, which took place in April.
In her brief remarks, Roe thanked her wife, Kristi, and children for their support, and reflected that when hired in Amherst, after being a paramedic supervisor in Natick, her hair was still black, rather than gray.
“It’s tough at this time. I loved my job,” Roe said. But she also deadpanned that she was leaving with more than she came with. “I came to this job with two kidneys, now I have three.”
Roe also thanked retirees and former colleagues on hand.
“Stay safe out there. We’re lucky we come home with our lives,” Roe said.
Szewczynski said being a firefighter was a humbling experience. “I was blessed, I had a good career. I was taught by some good people,” Szewczynski said.
Both were also given commemorative axes by the Amherst Firefighters Local 1764, each of which was engraved with their names, titles and years of service. They also received citations from the state Senate and House of Representatives, and a courtesy escort home.
