HADLEY — A lifelong Hadley resident who has been a civilian dispatcher since his high school graduation in the mid-1970s is the state’s Telecommunicator of the Year.

Henry Baj, who has handled dispatching duties on almost every Saturday day shift since the summer of 1976 and in recent years fills other shifts on a regular basis, was recently at the State House, as part of 911 Goes to Boston day, where he was presented with the award from the Massachusetts Communications Supervisors Association.

“I’m thrilled and honored that it was me, but more happy to be part of the Hadley public safety team,” Baj said.

Noting that 4,000 dispatchers are part of the statewide association, Baj said he is overwhelmed by the recognition.

“We all work together, we all do the job,” Baj said. “It really is a team, it really is.”

Baj’s service as a part-time emergency dispatcher for close to half a century is an accomplishment that prompted Hadley Dispatch Supervisor Meghan Cahill to draft the nomination letter that notes his first shift was July 10, 1976, with his first handwritten logbook entry about a hit-and-run accident to a parked car at Mountain Farms Mall.

“He is a fabulous employee and a huge asset to our department, not to mention a bit of a legend around here,” Cahill wrote.

Cahill also applauded Baj, 65, for knowing every landmark and street in town, as well as the name and address of almost every family.

“This makes him an almost limitless source of knowledge,” Cahill wrote.

On two recent occasions, his expertise supported other public safety officials. On May 27, his quick assessment and call for medical personnel led to the victim of an assault and battery with a dangerous weapon to be transported safely to a local trauma center; and on Sept. 1, his assistance aided police in arresting a man after the man allegedly broke into a home in the middle of the night.

Retired after a career as a maintenance technician at the physical plant at the University of Massachusetts, Baj also received citations from the state Legislature, including at state Rep. Dan Carey’s and Sen. Jo Comerford’s offices. “It was surreal,” Baj said.

He used the opportunity to advocate for pending legislation so that dispatchers will become first responders. He also hopes the recognition for dispatchers might lead to more being interested in the public safety field.

The nomination recounts how when Baj began there were just three full-time police officers, including the police chief, working from an old farm building, with a mobile radio used as the base station before a Citizens Band radio was given to the town. Calls were recorded on paper and then typed into a logbook.

In 2023, Baj is dispatching from a public safety complex that employs more than 40 police officers, firefighters and emergency dispatchers, where modern technology includes multiple radio channels and business lines and computers. He said cellphones have promoted many more to call 911 than the station’s business line.

Throughout, Baj has trained others, without compensation, preparing new hires to keep them and the town’s residents and visitors safe. Both Cahill and Police Chief Michael Mason were trained by Baj. He also continued to work through the pandemic, often putting in as many hours as other part-timers combined.

Baj had planned to retire this spring, but has delayed this as Hadley handles its own emergency medical dispatch services for the first time, something he is looking forward to.

“The opportunity to learn a new skill and offer a new service to the public was too good for Henry to turn down,” Cahill wrote. “As his supervisor, and co-worker, I couldn’t be happier that he will continue to be a part of our public safety team.”

In fact, Baj, due to state retirement rules based on his employment at UMass, initially retired in January 2019, and was given a plaque and a cake by his colleagues, following his last shift as a part-time dispatcher. Though even then he said he expected to return and did.

The 911 Goes to Boston event also included supervisor of the year, which went to Nicola Gazaille-Graves at the Dukes County Sheriff’s Office; team of the year, which went to South Shore Regional Emergency Communications Center; and leader of the year, which went to Erin Hasting, executive director for WestComm, a regional dispatch service based in Chicopee.

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