Retirement After–Gulp!–32 Years

Quite simply, Rockford (Ill.) Fire Department dispatcher Karen Welsh is retiring at 55 years-old. After 32 years of service. Working 12-hour shifts. On the night shift. She even has four years of service with the before that, too. She recalls handling virtually every conceivable type of incident, as a police dispatcher from 1977 to 1990, and after that at the fire department. Read more about her recollections, and of her co-workers stories about her here.