While Jim Bouton may be retiring from his job with the county as a fire coordinator, his nearly 50 years of service to Genesee County will continue.
Bouton said he will remain with the Town of Batavia Fire Department as a volunteer deputy fire chief.
Bouton, a retired corrections officer, started as a volunteer firefighter in 1972 in Alexander. He was chief by 1983. He took his first job as a fire inspector with the county in 1996. In 2004, he was hired in the Office of Emergency Management as a fire coordinator and training technician.
The thing he will miss the most, he said, is being with the people who became his friends over the course of his career.
"I liked working with a mass group of great folks out there," Bouton said. "I made a lot of friends, a lot of new friends. It was a wonderful experience. I wouldn’t give it up for anything."
After 47 years in the fire service, Bouton said volunteering with a local fire company is definitely a career path he would recommend for young people.
"It might open doors you didn’t think might be there for a career down the road, whether it’s maybe becoming a paid firefighter or a lot of other opportunities that happen because of the association of friends and group of friends you’re going to meet, some door may open," Bouton said.
Top photo: Tim Yaeger, emergency management coordinator, presents Bouton with his helmet and a commemorative helmet stand. Gary Patnode and Diane Bouton are on each side.
Coordinators with the Office of Emergency Management: Gary Patnode, Chuck Dodson, Bill Schutt, Jim Bouton, Tim Yaeger, Don Roblee (retired), and Sean Downing.
City firefighters presented Jim Bouton with a plaque to congratulate him on his retirement. Pictured: Dwane Weathell, Marty Hinz, Jim Bouton, Christine Marinaccio, and Mark Holly.
